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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27365761">He With The Jewel Eyes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/shutiitt/pseuds/shutiitt'>shutiitt</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Assassin Harry Potter, Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Dark Harry Potter, Death, F/M, Ginny Weasley Bashing, Girl-Who-Lived (Harry Potter), Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Harry Potter Has a Twin, Harry Potter is a Horcrux, Harry Potter-centric, Hermione Granger Bashing, Inheritance, M/M, Magical Inheritance, Magically Powerful Harry Potter, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Manipulative Harry Potter, Master of Death Harry Potter, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parselmouth Harry Potter, Parselmouths, Parseltongue, Powerful Harry Potter, Ravenclaw Harry Potter, Ron Weasley Bashing, Sane Voldemort (Harry Potter), Slytherin Harry Potter, Smart Harry Potter, Sneaky Harry Potter, Strong Harry Potter, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Wrong Boy-Who-Lived (Harry Potter), no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:35:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>37,606</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27365761</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/shutiitt/pseuds/shutiitt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There is nothing left in the future. Muggles kill all magical whether they be wizards or creatures. Hogwarts has fallen.</p><p>Harry Potter is the only living magical left 10 years after Voldemort's demise, but such a life is not worth living. He decides that instead of running away and hiding for the rest of his life, he will take back his future.</p><p>And with an ancient forbidden ritual, Harry Potter wakes up, a baby again, but with a twist.</p><p>~Cross-posted on Wattpad (shutiitt_real)~</p><p>Russian Translation:<br/>https://ficbook.net/readfic/10061044</p><p>Italian Translation:<br/>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29458197</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Potter &amp; Fred Weasley &amp; George Weasley, Harry Potter &amp; Lily Evans Potter, Harry Potter &amp; Ravenclaw Students, Harry Potter &amp; Severus Snape, Harry Potter &amp; Slytherin Students, Harry Potter &amp; Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Harry Potter &amp; Voldemort, Hermione Granger &amp; Original Female Character(s), James Potter &amp; Original Female Character(s), James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter &amp; Severus Snape, Neville Longbottom &amp; Luna Lovegood &amp; Harry Potter, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Ron Weasley &amp; Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black &amp; Remus Lupin &amp; Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Terry Boot &amp; Michael Corner &amp; Anthony Goldstein &amp; Harry Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>327</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2948</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Harry Potter Centric Fanfiction, Harry Potter Fics, Not to be misplaced, The Harry Potters, Waiting for updates, besthpficsinmyopinion, did someone say time travel</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">

        <li>
          Translation into Italiano available: 
            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29458197">He With the Jewel Eyes (Italian) by shutitt</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valkyrie_Lokidottir/pseuds/Valkyrie_Lokidottir">Valkyrie_Lokidottir</a>
        </li>


    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Harry stared at the ashen ruins of the castle he had spent the most important time of his life in.</p><p>It was gone. All gone.</p><p>Magic was dying. Magicals were non-existent.</p><p>And it was all because of those Merlin damned Muggles!</p><p>He growled in anger, magic shifting as if sensing his emotions, but as a shout came from near him, he calmed himself down forcefully.</p><p>It wouldn't do to give his location to those murderers. He was the last magical being left. Everything depended on him.</p><p>He had been late. Minutes late to save them, the last of their kind, trapped in Hogwarts as the building was bombed, decimated.</p><p>He could still see the faces of his family, Ginny, Lily, James, Albus, Ron, Hermione, Rose, Hugo... All gone in a matter of seconds, unable to protect themselves from the powerful explosion.</p><p>Harry opened his eyes, the jewels shining brightly with determination.</p><p>Their deaths wouldn't be in vain. He would do it.</p><p>He would restore the magical world.</p><p>But first, he needed to go back to the past. He needed to redo everything.</p><p>Dumbledore had been wrong. Muggles hadn't loved them.</p><p>Dumbledore wasn't a saint. He was but a puppet master. Everything he did was for the 'Greater Good'.</p><p>And that was what brought them here.</p><p>His smiled as he drew the ritual circle around him, blood dripping from his hand as he used it as ink.</p><p>This time, everything would be different.</p><p>This time, he would save them.</p><p>All of them.</p><p>He didn't realize the blood dripping creating an extra rune, and as he pumped his magic in, the circle shined. His eyes widened at the difference of what was described on the parchment of the book on rituals, and he twirled around, eyes rushing from rune to rune, and he spotted the extra one.</p><p>But there was nothing he could do now.</p><p>He closed his eyes as his soul was ripped from his body painfully, and the last thing he saw before he disappeared was men rushing towards him in anger.</p><p>{}</p><p>Harry opened his eyes with a groan, squinting immediately at the brightness.</p><p>His head was throbbing and he felt like he was underwater, the sounds coming from afar.</p><p>"It's a boy!" he heard a man say, voice unfamiliar.</p><p>His newborn eyes could only see silhouettes, yet he could still see that green clearly. </p><p>Such a deep shade of emerald. And the emotions that went through them made him feel warm all over.</p><p>There was so much love in those eyes.</p><p>He felt his muddled thoughts clear up slightly as the woman whispered, words clear to his ears.</p><p>"Hello, Harry. I'm your mom."</p><p>Lily Evans Potter. He had done it. He had come back!</p><p>He fell asleep in exhaustion and the world crumbled down under his eyelids.</p><p>The last thing he heard was, the shout of...</p><p>"It's a girl!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Twin Sister?!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Harry opened his eyes with a groan. He was now four months old.</p><p>Over the time since he had been reborn, he had begun to comprehend the world around him better.</p><p>From what he knew, he was now in an alternate universe where the only difference (from what he knew) was that he had a twin sister, names Rose Lily Potter.</p><p>Rose had hair the colour of rust, and chocolate brown eyes, the complete opposite of him. Harry thought it was quite the shame that she didn't have their mother's hair colour, which was the colour of dusk.</p><p>Hers was much more beautiful.</p><p>Oh well, it didn't matter.</p><p>Little Rose was quite the boring creature. From all the observation he'd done on her, he'd realized that she was a lazy crybaby. She didn't move much, and cried for anything she seemed boring, or annoying.</p><p>While Harry slept quietly, Rose woke up at least five times a night, and Harry could see that it was taking a toll on their parents.</p><p>Speaking of their parents, they were brilliant people.</p><p>James Fleamont Potter was a very powerful wizard, and if it weren't for their current situation (hiding from Moldy Shorts), Harry could easily guess that he would be the rising star in the Auror department.</p><p>Lily Julie Evans-Potter was a genius witch. Her comprehension ability was out of the world, and she excelled in charms, her spells always graceful and a work of art.</p><p>All in all, Harry could easily say that he was very happy to be born to this couple.</p><p>Well, until tragedy struck, that is.</p><p>{}</p><p>It was October 31st, Halloween. Both James and Lily were sitting in their living room, happily sipping their hot beverages, while both had a baby each on their laps.</p><p>Harry smiled up at his mother from her lap, his beam making the woman chuckle at his cuteness.</p><p>"Mama!" he said happily. "Wha' you dwink?"</p><p>He had started speaking at ten months old. It was a good enough time for a baby, well maybe a bit early, but believable still. His first word had been "Magi'" and both parents had been jealous of his love of magic.</p><p>While Rose, even at fifteen months old, hadn't said a word. She only cried and screamed, and Harry was pretty annoyed that such a problematic and greedy thing was actually his sister.</p><p>She only ever cared about her parents, which she tried to hog from Harry and cried whenever they were near him, and food, which she ate more than she should, but with Lily and James' great parenting, she didn't eat an unhealthy amount, not that she hadn't tried to.</p><p>Lily lowered her cup slightly, and Harry immediately stared in it, sniffing it.</p><p>"This is called hot chocolate." she explained. "It's made from chocolate and milk."</p><p>"Shmell good!" Harry chirped, making Lily, rub his head lovingly.</p><p>"Do you like it, Harry?" Harry nodded enthusiastically.</p><p>He was aware that he was acting childishly, but he was supposed to be a child, plus he had never had the opportunity to live his childhood, so he was enjoying his life as best as he could.</p><p>He was aware of the date, and tried to get his hopes up.</p><p>Maybe his parents' fate was different in this universe! Maybe they wouldn't have to die!</p><p>A crash came from the front door as it opened with a bang, the door ripped from its hinges, and both parents immediately rushed to their feet.</p><p>Lily and James paled as they saw who was at the door: Voldemort.</p><p>Immediately passing Rose to Lily, James stepped forward.</p><p>"Lily, take the twins and run!" Lily immediately complied, rushing up the stairs. She heard a spell being shouted out, and clenched her teeth in agony.</p><p>Hopefully he wasn't dead, but she needed to save the twins.</p><p>As soon as she arrived to the portkey in the twins' room, the door locked behind her, she heard footsteps.</p><p>She didn't have a chance to touch the object as the door slammed open, and the man stepped forward.</p><p>Lily squeezed his eyes shut. James had lost. She then opened them, put the twins in their cribs, and swirled around.</p><p>"Spare them, please!" she pleaded, and the man growled.</p><p>"Step aside, girl." he said harshly, but Lily didn't move.</p><p>"Please, not Harry and Rose!"</p><p>The man repeated his words.</p><p>"Step aside, or I'll kill you!" Lily still didn't budge.</p><p>"Not them!" she cried out, and the man gritted his teeth.</p><p>"<em>Stupefy</em>!" he called out in annoyance. He could deal with them later. He didn't want any more magical blood spilled, but with the prophecy, he had to do this.</p><p>Harry almost smiled. She wasn't dead! This was fantastic! He was full of joy.</p><p>Meanwhie, Voldemort looked at both the babes, and realized that they were very different.</p><p>The girl was crying, and there was nothing unusual about her. She had an average magical core, and would probably only ever be an average wizard.</p><p>The boy though, his eyes... They were staring at him courageously, not the slightest bit afraid. They were the colour of the killing curse, and Voldemort shivered at the sheer intensity in them.</p><p>And his core. What <em>was</em> that sheer amount of magic? It swirled and swirled within him like thick waves, and the size of his core rivalled those of adults!</p><p>There was no doubt. It had to be the boy.</p><p>The Dark Lord raised his wand, and waved it for the spell.</p><p>"<em>Avada</em> <em>Kedavra</em>." The spell hit the boy on the chest, but suddenly it turned back, and he screamed in agony as his body was ripped apart.</p><p>A sliver of his soul attached to the boy's scar, which was hidden underneath his wool onesie, and the boy passed out, magic depleted.</p><p>The aftershock wrecked the room, and a splinter from the crib hit Rose, carving a messy 'V' on her cheek. She immediately started crying.</p><p>Meanwhile, Sirius reached the house, and at the sight of the blasted door, he rushed inside, seeing James.</p><p>He immediately started shaking him, tears in his eyes, but contrary to his expectations, the man groaned, opening his eyes.</p><p>"James!" he cried out, and he snapped completely awake.</p><p>"Sirius! Where's Lily and the twins?" Their heads immediately snapped upstairs at the cry of Rose, and they rushed up in record speed.</p><p>Inside the room which looked like it went through a storm, they found Lily on the ground, and Rose crying, while Harry seemed unconscious.</p><p>James rushed to Lily while Sirius checked the twins.</p><p>Lily woke up to James' shaking and shouted.</p><p>"The twins! Are they okay?" They rushed to the crib, where Sirius was checking on Harry, and realized that Rose' cheek was bleeding.</p><p>"Rose... My poor Rose!" Lily sobbed as she wiped her cheek, and they all gasped as the saw the mark.</p><p>"That mark!" James cried out, and they all turned to each other.</p><p>It was Rose. Rose was the Child of the Prophecy.</p><p>She was the Girl-Who-Lived.</p><p>As Harry suffered the repercussions of the Killing Curse, Rose was hailed the hero.</p><p>And all because of a simple misunderstanding, history changed.</p><p>Harry had unknowingly changed the future without even trying.</p><p>Oh, the irony.</p><p>What he had wanted for so long had happened unwillingly.</p><p>And thus started the story of Harry Potter, the first ever Time Traveller who went back more than a day, and Master of Death.</p><p>As for Death, another universe was no matter.</p><p>His Master would be his Master always.</p><p>Time and place did not change anything.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. 4 Year's Later</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Years had passed, and now Harry and Rose were 5 years of age. They had grown up beautifully.</p><p>Now, with their parents' incredible genes, the two were extremely good looking, even for toddlers.</p><p>Rose had shoulder length messy Potter hair, which she always wore a tiara with, and her eyelashes had grown. Her eyes were covered by her wired glasses that were a perfect copy of her father's. She also had the Fortescue face shape due to Alice Longbottom (nee Fortescue) being her blood-adopted godmother. (Speaking of her, she wasn't incapacitated anymore thanks to Lily and several healers'  joint effort, which had created a new spell capable of healing severe mind damage.) Overall, she was a bit chubby from all the food she ate, but she was a healthy and cute baby. </p><p>Her personality was more like James' as well. She was pampered just like their father had been in their childhood, so it wasn't surprising really. But she didn't have the creativity of their father's, which he used for pranks. Instead, it seemed she had only gotten his negative points. She loved bullying Harry for 'being more important than him', and Harry being the mature adult he was, ignored her completely.</p><p>One part of her personality came from her mother: she practically worshipped magic. But she took that a bit further and decided Muggles were beneath her. She had above average talent for charms and transfiguration, from Harry's experience with people's cores, but she was absolutely shit at potions or herbology.</p><p>While Harry, Harry was quite different from his former life. In this life, he wasn't a carbon copy of his father except the eyes: he was a perfect mixture. And with Sirius as his blood-adopted godfather, he also had the Black futures on his face, giving him an aristocratic look.</p><p>His hair was pitch black, with silky curles falling down his head. His eyes were a vibrant Avada Kedavra green, and his other futures were delicate. His eyes were thankfully not near blind this time, he had perfect vision. </p><p>From his love for running even at an early age, he had less fat than average for his age, and his body had slight muscles, but nothing too noticeable.</p><p>His personality... Well, it was closer to his mother's to say the least. </p><p>He was incredibly perceptive and a fast learner. His talent for magic was unseen before. Other than Divination, which he had no talent for, he studied every single type of magic he could find, including dark magic, which meant secret trips to the Black Library.</p><p>He was also very kind and hardworking. He never complained about anything, and always helped his parents in anyway he could. His parents were more relieved by that than they showed: if both of them were like Rose, they wouldn't have known what to do.</p><p>But even with his kindness, he never let himself become a servant or manipulated. Do when Rose ordered him to do her part of the chores, or be a house elf for her, he always declined.</p><p>This drove Rose insane, and she started threatening him, pushing him around, and even harming him. Their parents weren't aware of this, and the worst that happened was him falling down, so he never complained.   </p><p>If it turned to abuse, though, he would inflict her worst nightmares upon her.</p><p>After that night four years ago, Rose had become unimaginably famous. Every single magical child knew her name, and many worshipped her as the next Merlin, which was ridiculous really, given her disgusting personality.</p><p>Also, who believed that a one-year-old could defeat a feared and ridiculously powerful Dark Lord? Really, were people that dumb?</p><p>The answer: yes. Yes they were.</p><p>Whenever they went out to Diagon Alley, or anywhere where magicals resided, people flocked to her like pigeons, and she sucked in all the attention and praise like sponge, her already arrogant behaviour becoming intolerable. </p><p>She believed the world revolved around her.</p><p>Harry believed her ego was already the size of Earth. That was the only thing that revolved around her.</p><p>Even Dumbledore acted like she was the best thing that happened to him. He always praised her and even promised to teach her personally, enlargening her already inflated ego.</p><p>It was actually Dumbledore who had wrongly declared Rose as the Saviour of the Magical World. He had taken a single look at both of their magical cores, and seeing Harry's depleted from taking the spell, he had declared that Rose had used Harry's magic to ward of the Killing Curse.</p><p>It was such bullshit that Harry had cracked up inside. Almost as bad as the cause of their survival being 'their mother's love'. Bullshit, it was because of the magical vow Voldemort had taken unknowingly by agreeing to Snape's request of sparing Lily, whose thrice defiance had transferred the vow to the twins.</p><p>After Dumbledore had told that, he had actually had the balls to request the couple to abandon Harry, because 'he would be jealous of Rose's fame' and 'because Rose had drawn his magic there was a high chance of him having become a Squib' which were such moronic conclusions that even Lily and James had gaped at him in disbelief, and refused to comply.</p><p>Really, asking someone to abandon one of their children for the other? That was utter idiocy, and for a 'brilliant' man like Dumbledore to actually suggest such a thing had made their parents question their loyalty to Dumbledore.</p><p>Remus and Sirius had also started acting colder to the man. After thinking about it, they had noticed that while Dumbledore was an important benefactor to Remus, he was the only werewolf to attend school.</p><p>If Dumbledore didn't discriminate against Dark Creatures, then why didn't he help other werewolves, who suffered from a curse like him?</p><p>And Sirius, if Lily and James hadn't helped him, Dumbledore wouldn't have told the public that Peter Pettigrew had been the Secret Keeper of their house. If -Merlin be damned- something had happened to the Potters and they had been incapacitated, or worse, dead, then no one would have known that Sirius had not betrayed them.</p><p>And wasn't that a terrifying thought. That Dumbledore would allow an innocent man to be imprisoned in Azkaban if it meant saving his own hide.</p><p>It was he who suggested them to leave the powerful wards of Potter Mansion, to the 'unpredictable' place of Godric's Hollow.</p><p>It was as if he had wanted them to be found.</p><p>And in Sirius' case, wasn't someone from a Dark family the best scapegoat for a mistake you yourself have made?</p><p>And Dumbledore's reputation would have made sure that he had done the right thing, that he wasn't at fault.</p><p>Just the thought was outrageous, yet true: Dumbledore did not care about them. He only saw them as puppets to control and help maintain his own reputation as the Lord of the Light.</p><p>This had been discussed within the house before, and therefore Dumbledore was now removed from their wards, banned to visit them indefinitely.</p><p>They had also quit the Order of the Phoenix, as there was no need to be there anymore. All they contributed to it was money now, and after some calculation, it was way too pricy.</p><p>They had trusted the Headmaster before, and he had actually stolen from them!</p><p>It seems the old man was much more different than they had originally thought.</p><p>And wasn't that even more terrifying to begin with? The amount of acting skill that man had?</p><p>As they realized this, Harry grinned. A few slight compulsion charms to make them start questioning the old coot, and the results were spectacular.</p><p>He wasn't even sorry for using magic on them. After all, it was all for the Greater Good.</p><p>Thousands of miles away, the Headmaster shuddered for no reason. For some reason, his instincts screamed that something he had not been expecting would happen soon.</p><p>He was an idiot for not listening to them, he realized years later, when he was ruined, left without pride or penny.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Inheritance Test Pt. 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two years passed. The twins were now seven, an age considered sacred.</p><p>Seven was an important number in the Wizarding World. Seven was the age when magical children became eligible to claim their inheritances.</p><p>The inheritances, contrary to popular belief, wasn't claimed by the eldest son or daughter. Instead, Lady Magic gave the titles to those She deemed worthy, so even if a child could not claim their inheritance, their younger sibling could.</p><p>It was why most houses had more than one spawn.</p><p>So, at the twins' seventh birthday, the Potters and their two friends headed to Gringotts.</p><p>Arriving, a crowd was in front of the bank, photos after photos taken of them as they appeared with a crack.</p><p>They headed through the thick crowd, pushing apart people, and walked inside. Gringotts didn't allow reporters in when they were working, so the sounds outside were cancelled by their brilliant wards, and few people were left inside.</p><p>Harry brushed himself of and saw the goblin teller staring at them, no doubt aware of who they were, and walked forward as James and Lily helped Rose clean of all the dirt and sweat stuck on her from the crowd, while Sirius and Remus cleaned themselves as well.</p><p>He smiled as he arrived in front of his desk, and with a lowered voice, spoke up, in Gobbledygook. He had learned it after he had broken into Gringotts in his previous life, to apologize and negotiate with the goblins.</p><p>"<em>Greetings, Master Goblin. May your gold flow, and enemies fall down to your blade</em>."</p><p>The goblin blinked, surprised that such a young child knew their language, then grinned, a snarl appearing on his face that Harry knew was of excitement, having seen it many times during his many negotiations in his past life.</p><p>"<em>And may your vaults flourish, Heir Potter</em>." he answered in a low voice, aware of the boy's intention to keep his language skills secret.</p><p>Harry grinned.</p><p>"<em>That is not for certain yet, but thank you for the compliment, Master Goblin.</em>"</p><p>The goblin chuckled.</p><p>"<em>My name is Sharpclaw. I am quite sure you will claim the Heirship, Mr. Potter</em>."</p><p>Harry beamed.</p><p>"<em>Please, Mr. Potter's my father. Call me Harry</em>."</p><p>Sharpclaw nodded. This child had gained his respect, to learn their languages and customs, and not look down upon them, was rare within the Wizarding community.</p><p>"Very well." he told the boy in English, as the rest of the family had come within hearing distance.</p><p>Lily came forward , eyebrows furrowed.</p><p>"Harry? Are you alright?" she asked, concerned. Goblins were known as a rude and scary race, and she didn't want Harry to be unhappy on his birthday.</p><p>Rose scoffed from behind her.</p><p>"He's such a wimp, to be afraid of a creature." she said in disdain, and all heads snapped towards her.</p><p>"Rose..." Lily said, shock prominent on her face. "How could you say that?"</p><p>Harry's eyebrows narrowed ever so slightly.</p><p>As they grew up, more and more of their parents' attention had started to go to Rose, and Harry being an independent child was starting to get ignored for her favour, even if it didn't happen at the level of neglect.</p><p>Even now, Lily wasn't scolding her. Something had changed, and Harry was sure it was because of her fame.</p><p>Since young, Rose had always been rude, but now, as they grew up, it was starting to get dismissed less than before for being a child.</p><p>So their parents started teaching her etiquette. This took much of their time a day, several times a week.</p><p>Harry didn't complain. His manners were already perfect.</p><p>Then came the flying lessons. Both were naturals, but Harry, with his previous life's experience, was ways ahead of his sister.</p><p>So James started teaching her. This caused him to be put aside a bit more.</p><p>It was always the smallest of things. The newspaper interviews they gave together with Rose, Harry not included in any (he didn't mind, he disliked publicity), the fan letter they helped her sort and reply to (once again, it was fine, they still spent time with him), but the last straw was when they actually forgot him at Diagon Alley once.</p><p>Now, they had apologized many times after that, but it was still bewildering: they forgot their child in a public place, where anything could happen to him!</p><p>And just a few minutes ago, they hadn't even helped him clean! He wasn't complaining or anything, but this was starting to get on his nerves.</p><p>He wasn't a ghost, okay? Just because he reincarnated didn't mean he didn't need attention either.</p><p>He had only properly met his parents on this life, and now they were fading away again.</p><p>Harry snapped out of his musings with a grin he plastered on his face, already used to his 'child mask' he used on them. He had perfected it over the years, and now, nobody even suspected that it was a mask.</p><p>"I'm alright, mother. Mr. Sharpclaw was just telling me about goblin customs. They're fascinating! May I buy some books on them after the inheritance test?" he said politely, and Lily smiled at her son's enthusiasm.</p><p>"Of course, dear. If you're interested." Harry's smile grew slightly wider, showing teeth as he cheered, a fist pumping in the air.</p><p>"Yes!" he cried out, the others watching in amusement. "Thank you mother!"</p><p>He then ran up to her and hugged her, making Lily pat his head in amusement. One moment he was all proper, the next he was a little child. It was amusing watching him change so quickly.</p><p>James turned to the teller after a while, his pureblood mask on.</p><p>"We have come here today for a scheduled inheritance test on Hadrian Jameson Potter, and Rosaline Lillian Potter." he said, and the goblin stared at him for a bit, then went through his papers, nodding as he found the appointment.</p><p>"Follow me." he said, getting off his seat, not even glancing behind him as he began walking away, not waiting for them.</p><p>Rose scowled.</p><p>"How rude! I'm the Girl-Who-Lived! How can that creature act all mighty like that to me!" she said with a pout, and James sighed.</p><p>"They are just like that, Rose. You have to get used to it, alright?" Rose continued scowling, but nodded.</p><p>"Fine. But buy me the new Cleansweep 4 to me after this." James chuckled at the demand.</p><p>"Alright, I promise." Sirius grinned as he bumped a shoulder to James.</p><p>"She's just like you when you were younger. All you cared about was Quidditch." he teased, and James mock scowled at him.</p><p>"Says you! You were the exact same!" he pointed out, and they started bickering as the two adults who actually acted like adults watched them in amusement.</p><p>Meanwhile, Harry upped his pace, reaching Sharpclaw, and bowed slightly.</p><p>"I apologize for their lack of tact. They aren't very knowledgeable about goblin culture and customs."</p><p>The goblin shook his head in amusement. It seemed this child actually saw them as equals, and not inferior. In all fifty years of his life, he had never been apologized to. It was quite amusing that the first one came from a seven-year-old child.</p><p>"You do not need to bow to me for others' fault, Harry." he said, enthusiasm bleeding through his indifferent mask. Harry took notice but didn't comment on it.</p><p>"They are still related to me, so I will not retract my statement." he said firmly, and the goblin grinned as he saw that he wouldn't budge.</p><p>"Alright then, I accept your apology." he said, throwing a glance back at the people who actually ignored this intelligent boy in disappointment. It didn't matter whether it was on purpose or not, but he had still seen the loneliness in the boy's eyes as he had looked at the group.</p><p>To think that they actually pampered that pompous little brat and ignored this kind child, was this what wizards were like these days?</p><p><em>Oh how the mighty have fallen</em>, he thought as he continued his way through the corridor.</p><p>Well, at least he had no doubt that the boy was the Heir. If Lady Magic didn't choose him, then who would She choose?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Inheritance Test Pt. 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sharpclaw knocked on the door, and opened it. The group of witches and wizards walked in, chatting happily.</p><p>As soon as they walked in, Sharpclaw closed the door and walked away, but not before nodding to Harry one last time.</p><p>The goblin sitting behind the desk noticed that, and narrowed his eyes. That young child had gained the respect of a goblin warrior that easily? He would have to watch out for him.</p><p>Clearing his throat, he arranged the parchments on his desk and put them away, taking out two pieces of enchanted ones used for the sole purpose of testing inheritances.</p><p>"Three drops of blood on the parchment; no less nor more." he said simply, and Rose hopped towards it immediately, ignoring that she was younger.</p><p>The goblin narrowed his eyes at the disrespect but did not comment, and James carefully knocked her thumb, which she yowled at, and dropped the blood.</p><p>Words formed on the paper and the goblin snatched the paper before any of them could see anything, going over them. He then nodded, and gave it to them.</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>Name: Rosaline Lillian Potter</p><p>Date of Birth: July 31st, 1980</p><p>Parents: Jameson Fleamont Potter (father), Lillian Julianna Potter nee Evans (mother), Alice Marilyn Longbottom nee Fortescue (mother, blood adoption)</p><p>Godparents: Remus John Lupin (godfather), Alice Marilyn Longbottom nee Fortescue (godmother)</p><p>Core: Average, Light</p><p>Titles:</p><p>Second In Line to the Ancient and Noble House of Potter (by blood, paternal)<br/>Second In Line to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell (by blood, paternal)<br/>Second In Line to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Gryffindor (by blood, maternal)<br/>Third In Line to the Ancient House of Fortescue (by blood, maternal)</p><p>Affinities: </p><p>{None, Very Low, Low, Below Average, Average, Above Average, High, Very High, Full}</p><p>Above Average Affinity to Charms<br/>Above Average Affinity to Transfiguration<br/>Average Affinity to Potter House Magicks<br/>Average Affinity to Wordless Magic<br/>Average Affinity to Animagus Transformation<br/>Average Affinity to Ancient Languages<br/>Below Average Affinity to Herbology<br/>Below Average Affinity to Potions<br/>Below Average Affinity to Ancient Runes<br/>Below Average Affinity to Warding<br/>Low Affinity to Ritual Magicks<br/>Very Low Affinity to Arithmancy<br/>No Affinity to Divination<br/>No Affinity to Wandless Magic</p><p>Creature Blood:<br/>None</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>To say they were shocked was an understatement. The Chosen One, an average witch with no direct inheritances? That was not what they had expected in the least.</p><p>Also, Lily was descended from Godric Gryffindor? That was a lot to comprehend at the moment.</p><p>The goblin didn't care, and held out another parchment.</p><p>"Next." With that, they snapped out of their shock.</p><p>"Are you sure this test isn't faulty? This is impossible!" cried out Lily, while Rose started crying.</p><p>The goblin just sneered.</p><p>"If you cannot believe it, try again. The result will not change."</p><p>And he was right. They were all stunned as the results came out exactly the same.</p><p>Harry got tired of the wait and stepped forward.</p><p>"Excuse me, Master Goblin, but may I take the test as well? I would rather not waste any more time." The heads snapped to him shock, and James roared.</p><p>"Harry! How can you say that! Aren't your sister's results important?" Harry blinked in amazement as he got scolded for wanting to know more about himself.</p><p>He tested the words on his tongue as not to offend them, and talked slowly.</p><p>"I did not mean that," he explained, making eye contact with each of them. "I was only excited to find out my own inheritance and affinities and accidentally spoke out the wrong words. I did not mean to say that my sister's results are unimportant, just that they have now been found out. I would like to also participate in this test now. Please continue discussing Rose's, I shall give mine to you afterwards."</p><p>They had a stare contest, then James sighed and nodded.</p><p>"Fine. I forget you're still a kid sometimes. I'm sorry I shouted." He grumbled as he averted his gaze.</p><p>Harry nodded gratefully and slashed his finger quicky, watching the drops and healing the cut with magic afterwards.</p><p>The goblin noticed and grinned slightly. He was right, this kid was interesting.</p><p>Harry, although having taken this test in his last life, was still interested to see if anything had changed.</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>Name: Hadrian Jameson Potter</p><p>Date of Birth: July 31st, 1980</p><p>Parents: Jameson Fleamont Potter (father), Lillian Julianna Potter nee Evans (mother), Sirius Orion Black (father, blood adoption), Tom Marvolo Riddle (horcrux)</p><p>Godparents: Sirius Orion Black (godfather), Amelia Susan Bones (godmother)</p><p>Core: Extremely High, Grey</p><p>Titles:</p><p>Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Potter (by blood, paternal)<br/>Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell (by blood, paternal)<br/>Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Gryffindor (by blood, maternal)<br/>Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Slytherin (by right of conquest and magic, paternal)<br/>Second In Line to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Ravenclaw (by right of magic)<br/>Second In Line to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Hufflepuff (by right of magic)<br/>Heir to the Most Noble House of Emrys (by right of magic)<br/>Triwizard Tournament Champion (1994)<br/>Boy-Who-Lived<br/>Man-Who-Won<br/>Defeater Of The Dark (1997)<br/>Furthest Time Traveller<br/>Fate's Chosen<br/>Master of Death</p><p>Affinities: </p><p>{None, Extremely Low, Very Low, Low, Below Average, Average, Above Average, High, Very High, Extremely High, Full}</p><p>Full Affinity to Charms<br/>Full Affinity to Transfiguration<br/>Full Affinity to Potter House Magicks<br/>Full Affinity to Peverell House Magicks<br/>Full Affinity to Black House Magicks<br/>Full Affinity to Gryffindor House Magicks<br/>Full Affinity to Slytherin House Magicks<br/>Full Affinity to Wordless Magic<br/>Full Affinity to Animagus Transformation<br/>Full Affinity to Ancient Languages<br/>Full Affinity to Ancient Runes<br/>Full Affinity to Warding<br/>Full Affinity to Metamorphmagus Transformation<br/>Full Affinity to Wandless Magic<br/>Full Affinity to Parselmagic<br/>Full Affinity to Necromancy<br/>Extremely High Affinity to Blood Magic<br/>Extremely High Affinity to Herbology<br/>Extremely High Affinity to Potions<br/>Extremely High to Ritual Magicks<br/>Extremely High Affinity to Arithmancy<br/>No Affinity to Divination</p><p>Creature Blood:<br/>Half-Inferius</p><p>Animagus Form:<br/>Black Panther (cub due to age)<br/>_______________________________________</p><p>The goblin nearly choked and fell of his chair.</p><p>The sound that came out of him was strange even for a goblin, and Harry barely held in a snicker at his deathly pale face.</p><p>That was the goblin's reaction at his past life as well. Though in his past life, he had had many compulsion and blocks as well. Quite unpleasant, really.</p><p>The noise alerted the other who turned, but the goblin quickly his the results and replaced them with another to protect Harry's privacy.</p><p>The new results were:</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>Name: Hadrian Jameson Potter</p><p>Date of Birth: July 31st, 1980</p><p>Parents: Jameson Fleamont Potter (father), Lillian Julianna Potter nee Evans (mother), Sirius Orion Black (father, blood adoption),</p><p>Godparents: Sirius Orion Black (godfather), Amelia Susan Bones (godmother)</p><p>Core: High, Grey</p><p>Titles:</p><p>Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Potter (by blood, paternal)<br/>Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell (by blood, paternal)<br/>Heir to the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Gryffindor (by blood, maternal)<br/>Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black (by blood, paternal)</p><p>Affinities:</p><p>{None, Extremely Low, Very Low, Low, Below Average, Average, Above Average, High, Very High, Extremely High, Full}</p><p>Above Average Affinity to Charms<br/>Above Average Affinity to Transfiguration<br/>Above Average Affinity to Potter House Magicks<br/>Above Average Affinity to Peverell House Magicks<br/>Above Average Affinity to Black House Magicks<br/>Above Average Affinity to Gryffindor House Magicks<br/>Above Average Affinity to Ancient Languages<br/>Above Average Affinity to Ancient Runes<br/>Average Affinity to Wordless Magic<br/>Average Affinity to Animagus Transformation<br/>Average Affinity to Warding<br/>Average Affinity to Metamorphmagus Transformation<br/>No Affinity to Wandless Magic<br/>No Affinity to Divination</p><p>Creature Blood:<br/>None</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>The group of five gaped at the boy who had better results than any of the Girl-Who-Lived.</p><p>Rose snapped out of it first, and glared, pointing a finger at her brother.</p><p>"He cheated! There's no way he's better than me!"</p><p>And the goblin snapped.</p><p>Enough was enough.</p><p>Just how shameless and arrogant was this girl?</p><p>She dared to accuse the most powerful person in the Wizarding World as of then.</p><p>Not that she was aware, but still.</p><p>She would suffer the consequences soon enough.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Heirships</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The goblin stood up, and walked to the goblin standing on the side of the door, telling him to get the rings.</p><p>He then turned around, and glared at the group viciously.</p><p>"I am going to talk to Heir Potter alone. So get out." he snarled.</p><p>Lily shook her head frantically.</p><p>"We are his guardians! You cannot do that!" she cried out. "Whatever you will speak to him about, we have the right to know."</p><p>The goblin shook his head.</p><p>"No. As long as Heir Potter wishes, he can tell you, but I will be talking to him in private." He then gestured the goblin warriors to escort them away, and the two stepped away from the walls and walked towards them.</p><p>The Potters, and friends were forcefully thrown out of the room, and then the goblin locked it, wards making sure none would come in or hear their conversation.</p><p>He then turned around and walked back to his desk, sitting down and staring unblinkingly at Harry.</p><p>And so the boy told him his story.</p><p>It took quite a lot of time, but he was able to finish it, and then the goblin - Strongsword, he had introduced himself as- asked him about his current life, and Harry's face scrunched up.</p><p>"They... aren't that bad," he told him unsurely."Because Rose has a fandom and a shitty personality, they have to spend more of their time with her, so we aren't as close as we used to be really. But I'm not abused or anything like what happened at the Dursleys, so I'm fine right now."</p><p>Strongsword scoffed.</p><p>"That is incorrect. You have not been cared for properly in neither of your lives, so you do not understand. This is called neglect. They are favouring one child over the other, even if they aren't doing it unconsciously. Because you are an independent person, they believe you do not need to be cared for as much as her, so they double the attention on Rose Potter instead. This is not normal, Heir Potter."</p><p>Harry sighed. So he was right. He hadn't been a child properly before, and he wouldn't be one now.</p><p>So he rubbed his face in annoyance.</p><p>"I see," he said. "I will try to do something about it. Thank you for informing me. And please, call me Harry. Heir Potter is too formal for my liking." Strongsword nodded.</p><p>"Very well," he said, tapping the boxes on the table that had been portkeyed in during their meeting. "These are your Heir rings, as you very well know." He had switched to English halfway through.</p><p>Harry nodded.</p><p>"Yes. I try them on, and merge my magic with theirs, correct?" The goblin nodded and Harry opened the boxes one by one, and put on the rings, merging his magic first, then the rings. In the end, he willed it only to show the Potter Insignia, and nodded at Strongsword.</p><p>"If that is all, I will come for the bank statements a week later." The goblin nodded.</p><p>"May your vaults flourish under your cause, Heir Potter."</p><p>"And may your enemy fall down to your blade, especially the thieves, Account Manager Strongsword."</p><p>He was then escorted out, where he met with his frantic mother, searching him all over for injuries.</p><p>He laughed and hugged her with a grin.</p><p>"I'm alright, mother," he said assuringly. "Mr. Strongsword just wanted to talk to me because I had multiple lordships. According to him, it's pretty rare, so it was protocol to do a more detailed test. Nothing changed, though, so I assume I still have four Heirships." He beamed. "Isn't that amazing?"</p><p>Lily gulped at that guiltily, and Harry's eyes narrowed.</p><p>"Mother? Is there something wrong?"</p><p>Lily sighed, rubbing her face unhappily.</p><p>"It's just..." She sighed once again. "It's just that Rose doesn't have any Heirships, and we're afraid of what will happen when the public knows about this."</p><p>And Harry's patience completely snapped. He took a step back, shaking his head.</p><p>"Harry?" asked Lily worriedly, taking a step forwards, but Harry just took another step back.</p><p>"You..." he said, his tone disbelieving. "Do you really think I'm unbreakable? That I can do everything by myself just because I'm a bit independent." He raised his head, and Lily gasped as he saw the glare in them. "I'm just a child! And you look at me like you do to Sirius or Remus! I'm also your child! So why can't you treat me, love me, give me just a bit of your attention like you do to Rose? I just feel like I'm a replacement for her! Why don't you love me like you do her?"</p><p>He then started crying, and Lily's eyes softened, and she hugged him, rubbing his back soothingly.</p><p>"Oh, my baby," she said, tears alia coming out from her eyes. " I didn't notice. It's because you always listened to us and Ross was a bit more... enthusiastic... so we had to pay attention to her more. I didn't even realize that we were making you feel this way. I promise this won't happen again!"</p><p>Harry raised his head, eyes still watery and puffy from crying, but full of hope.</p><p>"R-really?" he stuttered out, and he look so pitiful at that moment that Lily couldn't help but hold him tighter.</p><p>"Of course. I swear it won't. Because even if you have grown up earlier than Rose, you are both my children, and I will never, ever mistreat you for the other." Harry felt a hot wave of magic, and gasped, checking her frantically.</p><p>"Mother! That...that was a magical vow right now! Are you okay? Did anything happen? Are you heart anywhere?"</p><p>Lily laughed at her son, a little boy she noticed, look at her searchingly and terrified, and hugged him again, kissing him on top of his head.</p><p>"Don't worry, I did that willingly," she murmured, lips still on Harry's head. "It's the proof of my promise to you that you will always be my son."</p><p>And the dam broke once again. But it was good. They were once again a family.</p><p>And with that promise, the future that Harry had been dreading, vanished from.the possibilities.</p><p>Because his mother would always have his back.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Conversing With The Uncles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After Harry's outburst, Lily and James had had a serious conversation. Afterwards, James had also apologized to Harry, and from then on, they had been much more careful with how much time they dedicated to both of their kids.</p><p>Rose had been annoyed, but if she announced her feelings, she would be scolded, so after a while, she just shut up.</p><p>Harry was more than pleased with this development. Now that they were functioning like a normal four-people family, he decided to have a talk with his two uncles next.</p><p>One day, when the two were alone, he knocked on their door.</p><p>"Uncle Padfoot? Uncle Moony?"</p><p>The door opened to reveal Remus, and he beamed up at the werewolf.</p><p>"I want to talk to you about something. May I come in?"</p><p>The man nodded, opening the door wider. Inside, Sirius sat on a chair, reading a book. When he saw the seven-year-old, he closed it, putting it aside.</p><p>"Prongslet! What brings you here?" he asked enthusiastically, and Harry's smile completely vanished, taking a serious look.</p><p>The two adults were stunned. Even if Harry was quite the formal child, he always smiled. This cold boy in front of them was a stranger.</p><p>"I'll be direct," he said, taking a seat on the other chair. "Gringotts wants you to claim your Lordship. All the investments are going to waste, and goblins abhor wasting money."</p><p>Sirius blinked, stunned.</p><p>"But I'm disowned!" he pointed out, which Harry clicked his tongue at.</p><p>"If you really were, then I wouldn't be the Heir. You are biologically 1/3rd my parent after all."</p><p>The two adults were stunned. Sirius really was Lord Black? This was news to them.</p><p>"Wait," Remus said thoughtfully. "How do you know what Gringotts wants?"</p><p>Harry's look turned into a cold smile.</p><p>"Goblins actually quite like those who respect their culture." he said, and the two looked away from the sharp stare guiltily. They hadn't even known that.</p><p>Sirius cleared his throat.</p><p>"Alright, when do they want me to go there?"</p><p>Harry took out the letter, handing it to him.</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>Heir Potter-Peverell-Black-Gryffindor,</p><p>It has come to our attention that your godfather, Sirius Orion Black, has not come to claim his Lordship of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black.</p><p>We ask of you to convey this piece of information to him.</p><p>He is to claim his Lordship as soon as possible.</p><p>May Lady Magic be with you,</p><p>Ragnok, Head of Gringotts Britain Branch</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>Sirius flopped back in his seat, taking in the information. Hadn't his mother disowned him? How was this possible?</p><p>As if reading his mind, Harry spoke up.</p><p>"Burning your face in the Ancestral Tree is not enough to disown you. Only Lord Black has the authority to thrown a member out of his family."</p><p>Sirius' eyes snapped back to Harry, narrowed.</p><p>"You know quite a lot for your age." he said, suspicious and searching, and Harry chuckled dryly at that.</p><p>"You would have known that if you have me even the slightest bit of your attention." At the guilt looks he sighed. "Look, I'm not accusing you, just stating facts. I know I'm not exactly like my father or my mother, but I'd appreciate it if you still spent some time with me."</p><p>He then stood up, nodding his head once at them, and walked out of the room.</p><p>After he was gone, Sirius turned to Remus with a sad expression on his face.</p><p>"Did we really ignore him like he said?" he asked. "We did play with him, didn't we?"</p><p>But as both of them tried to remember anything they had done with the green-eyed child, they realized that the last time they had even talked to him was two years ago.</p><p>Sirius slumped down to the ground in horror, while Remus froze, guilt washing like waves over them.</p><p>"I can't believe it! I'm a failure of a godfather!" Sirius cried out, silent tears running down his cheeks.</p><p>Remus wasn't any better. Moony was growling at him for abandoning his cub. He also realized something very shocking: his wolf hadn't recognized Rose as his cub.</p><p>But that couldn't be true! He was her godfather for Merlin's sake. How could she not be his cub.</p><p>That night, both went to bed, seriously confused and upset.</p><p>In his room, Harry smiled. He had managed to get back his two uncles as well.</p><p>And that was enough to him for now.</p><p>It didn't matter that he didn't have any friends. He had a family once again, and he was going to enjoy that thoroughly.</p><p>And as that though ran through his head again, Fate chuckled.</p><p>Oh, Harry wouldn't know what was coming for him.</p><p>A shudder ran through Harry, even when his room was quite warm. </p><p>Oh yes, Fate decided, this boy would not know what was going for him at all.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Rose Retaliates</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After repairing his relationship with the four adults, ever so slightly, but progress, nontheless, the household became much warmer for Harry.</p><p>He was always included in conversations, and Lily and James did their best to treat him as best as they could.</p><p>Contrary to their beliefs, that wasn't what Harry wanted. He didn't want to be pampered like Rose; he just wanted to make memories with them.</p><p>In his past life, he had been alone. So alone that he could barely ever feel such warmth.</p><p>Even Ron and Hermione, his two best friends, had only been there for his money. He had been betrayed by many, and any he trusted, met their demise shortly after.</p><p>Even Ginny, sweet sweet Ginny had dozed him with love potion after love potion. The cute child had grown up into a greedy womam, who only cared for her appearance and wealth, and Harry had known, and done nothing.</p><p>Because even if they cared only for his money, at least that meant one aspect of him had been likeable.</p><p>He had always had low self-esteem, with all the abuse and neglect he'd gone through.</p><p>Even then, he had been shy and quiet, he had allowed himself to be manipulated, but he had never, ever been stupid.</p><p>His mind was one the brightest there was, and with the power of intelligence, he had done what he could best: think.</p><p>He had always suspected it to be Dumbledore's ploys on molding him, and he had been right.</p><p>Even so, he hadn't retaliated: he wanted to see the end of such a well-thought scheme.</p><p>In his last life, he had been the perfect hero the wretched Headmaster had wanted him to be.</p><p>In his past life, he had learned of their ploy before he had even been informed of his Hogwarts House.</p><p>In his past life, he had acted all his life. Because if any of them knew the true him, they wouldn't let him live.</p><p>The Saviour of the Magical World could not be a Dark wizard after all.</p><p>The Boy-Who-Lived could not be a Slytherin after all.</p><p>The Chosen One could not be a murderer after all.</p><p>So he had buried his true self deep inside, only faring to raise it slightly to crack his mask few times.</p><p>Only a handful had seen it, and even before the attack on Magicals had started, every single one of them had already been dead.</p><p>In his past life, he had been a killer, an assassin.</p><p>Nobody had noticed the disappearance of a few insignificant beings.</p><p>Nobody had even thought that they had met their ends.</p><p>And nobody had most certainly thought that it was Harry Potter who had done the deed.</p><p>For he could be very discreet if he wanted to, a fact unknown by Dumbledore.</p><p>He should thank the old goat in fact, for if he hadn't been sent to his wicked relatives, he probably never would have considered that he had such potential to lurk in the shadows, to stalk, to gather intelligence, and to end lives with a swift flick of his wrist.</p><p>If it wasn't for Dumbledore, the Dark side probably would have won.</p><p>Without the loss of all their henchmen, it had been quite easy to end them, after all.</p><p>And lastly, if it weren't for Dumbledore, He wouldn't have learned how to survive. To steal, to run, to fight, to manipulate, to kill...</p><p>It was all thanks to Dumbledore that Harry had become who he was today.</p><p>And he couldn't wait to cut his head of for a gesture of gratitude.</p><p>Manipulative old bastard.</p><p>He was cut off from his musings by a harsh shove that would have sent him stumbling down the stairs he was standing by if it weren't for his monstrous reflexes. He rolled to the side and got up swiftly, swirling around in a battle stance.</p><p>He immediately dropped his fists when he saw his little minx of a sister in front of him. He straightened his back, and glared harshly.</p><p>"What do you need, Rosaline?"</p><p>The girl just scoffed at him.</p><p>"Just because you tricked Mummy,Daddy, Paddy and Moony doesn't mean you can trick me. I know that you are a Dark Magic user! You must have used some on them so they turned against me! I'll tell the Aurors all about it if you don't cancel it!" Harry looked at the idiot like she'd grown a second head.</p><p>"I see... I knew you were stupid, but not this much. You should seek council from a psychiatrist, maybe they'd be able to help cure that bean of a brain you can barely contain." </p><p>He then turned around, and walked away, leaving a gaping Rose behind.</p><p>As soon as he was out of sight, he stiffened, then started chuckling. He muffled it with his hand, and hurriedly walked inside the library, locking it behind him. Once he cast a few privacy wards, he collapsed to the ground, laughing so hard his stomach hurt.</p><p>"Her face! Pfft- hahaha!" He snorted as he remembered the stunned look, and started laughing even harder.</p><p>After ten minutes or so, his laughter finally stopped. He sniffled as he rubbed his eyes, finally feeling satisfied after all the years of his twin's torment.</p><p>He felt refreshed. A kind that didn't come from taking a bath, but an internal one. He had been tolerating those insults for so long, it had started to take a toll on him. Now, he was finally light again, and he felt so energetic that he could fly without a broom.</p><p>Harry paused. Wait. He could already do that.</p><p>His face took a thoughtful expression.</p><p>But should he?</p><p>A while later, his face brightened.</p><p>He hadn't played a prank since he had been reborn, had he?</p><p>A few room away, Rose shivered out of nowhere.</p><p>Harry grinned.</p><p>This was going to be the return of the Phantom Prankster of Hogwarts.</p><p>All occupants of the house felt the chills. </p><p>Something very bad would happen today.</p><p>As I'd reading their thoughts, the boy's grin turned feral.</p><p>Well, he'd make a nice debut then.</p><p>How fun.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Who's The Culprit? ~ A Filler Chapter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The day after he made his plans, Harry struck every single occupant of the house, including himself.</p><p>Everyone woke up with a scream coming from Rose's room. Rushing over, they found her on the floor, with her bed trying to eat her, the opening between the mattress and wooden frame having opened like a mouth. </p><p>As Lily tried to save her, she suddenly shrunk, barely reaching the height of a spoon. She still managed to save Rose, but the damage was done.</p><p>The room was a mess, and every single belonging was ripped apart or crushed by the sentient bed.</p><p>James waved his wand to fix them, but his wand suddenly flew out of his hand, and every time he reached for it, it would curse him.</p><p>In the end, his body was multicoloured, his ears as big as books, his nose non-existent, and both of his feet were left.</p><p>Sirius snickered, but he wasn't free either as a bucket full of horse dung fell on his head, and started multiplying as soon as it touched him.</p><p>Remus just walked away, but he was tripped, and his mouth turned into a beak, and his feet turned into hands, with gray wings sprouting out his shoulder blades.</p><p>And finally, Harry's hair grew until it reaches the ground, turned into vines, and trapped him in place, while changing from colour to colour at a fast pace.</p><p>It took them half an hour to turn themselves back to how they were and another ten minutes to clean up Rose's room.</p><p>In the end, both Sirius and James started point fingers at each other, and another prank war started.</p><p>At noon, Lily could be found shooting stinging hexes at both man-children, Rose crying next to her because Harry had secretly cursed her buttocks to hurt all day long, and Remus downing coffee after coffee while he munched on chocolates.</p><p>After the mess was cleared, one question was left: who was the culprit?</p><p>Because Harry and Rose hadn't learned magic yet, they were immediately declared innocent. Then, Lily, then Remus... And only Sirius and James were left.</p><p>They both started to claim innocence, scared of Lily's wrath, and in the end, the culprit remained hidden.</p><p>That night,as Harry lay in his bed, he grinned, thinking back to all the pranks he had played that day.</p><p>As he closed his eyes, satisfied, Rose started screaming again, not that he cared.</p><p>It seemed she had found the lion he had portkeyed into her room.</p><p>Oh, well, life was good.</p><p>Harry fell asleep, the girl's screaming a lullaby to his ears.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Hogwarts, Here We Come!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had not worked.</p><p>Harry had tried everything he could for James to act equal to him, but it had not bloody worked.</p><p>After a few months of careful behaviour, James had once again went back to his typical behaviour, and it was driving him insane.</p><p>Harry could not understand for the life of him why he was acting like this. After a while he came to this conclusion: either he was under compulsion charms, or Fate really hated him.</p><p>He praise Rose like a princess, spoiling her, and never refusing any of her requests. Towards Harry, he didn't behave rudely, but he did ignore him quite a lot, for the favour of the girl.</p><p>Rose was quite happy with the development, making sure brag about it to Harry whenever he could.</p><p>Anyway, that wasn't important right now. What mattered more was that today was the day they went to Hogwarts.</p><p>Over the years, the twins had grown up nicely.</p><p>Rose, while still a bit chubby, had become quite beautiful.</p><p>She had long rust-red hair and chocolate brown eyes covered with round wired glasses that suited her face surprisingly good. She had grown to be taller than average for her age, at 140 cm. Her body was petite, and her self-confidence flowed out of her, creating an aura of brilliance, albeit untrue.</p><p>Harry was lean and tall, at 145 cm, quite tall for his age.</p><p>His avada kedavra green eyes shines dangerously, so people mostly stayed away from him. His curly raven hair was now tied in a messy bun behind his head, a few strands elegantly falling down his face.</p><p>He had a feminine body, which annoyed him greatly, but he was quite strong, physically, able to lift 50 kg tables by himself easily, due to all the meditation he had done, nourishing his body with magic and causing it to be naturally strong.</p><p>Today, they were standing in front of the train at Platform 9 3/4, where Rose was being gushed over and crowded.</p><p>Rose was wearing a gold dress with a brown jacket on top, black high heels on her feet, her hair in a low braid, and Harry begrudgingly admitted that it it suited her.</p><p>Rose had a strong sense of fashion, from all the fame she had, it was a requirement really, and she also knew how to promote herself.</p><p>She was in a partnership with Gilderoy Lockhart as well, and as much as Harry despised the man, he knew how to use his fame, so both sides were quite pleased with the arrangement.</p><p>Harry himself knew how to dress well, for after his victory against Voldemort, he had had to attend many improtant events.</p><p>He was wearing an emerald green shirt with dark gray trousers, and pitch black shiny formal shoes. </p><p>He did attract attention as he was sure he would, but as he was only 'The-Girl-Who-Lived's brother', all eyes naturally went to Rose.</p><p>Harry sighed as he snuck through the crowd, nimbly avoiding touching anyone.</p><p>Fame really was exhausting, even if you yourself weren't the famous one.</p><p>Lily, well aware that he had escaped, chuckled lightly. Her boy really hated crowds, and it seemed he had gotten it from her.</p><p>She could play the perfect Pureblood wife nicely, but that didn't mean he had to like it.</p><p>She sighed. Well, it seemed she wasn't going to be able to see him off. That was disappointing.</p><p>From her side, Remus and Sirius glanced at each other, understanding her feelings.</p><p>While Harry had gotten closer to them over the years, he still didn't depend on them, treating them as equals and not uncles.</p><p>He was great company, but sometimes, it was quite frustrating seeing such a young boy act like an adult, and knowing that they were the cause drowned them in guilt.</p><p>Sirius patted Lily on the shoulder, sending her a sympathetic glance, which she nodded at gratefully.</p><p>She then turned to James, and was filled with disgust at seeing him like a puppy beneath Rose's feet, wagging his tail.</p><p>She rubbed her forehead in annoyance. She didn't know what had went wrong with both of them, but day by day, she was starting to be filled with less and less affection for them.</p><p>It was like they were a two people family, only ever interacting with each other when both were in the same room.</p><p>Lily turned around, eyebrows furrowed, and started making light conversation with Remus and Sirius.</p><p>After some time, the horn was blown, signaling that it was time to go.</p><p>Lily kissed Rose on the head after James was finished gushing over her, wishing her luck.</p><p>"Don't forget to focus on your studies next to making friends, alright?" she asked, and from Rose's scrunched face, she could easily understand that the girl didn't like what she had just told her.</p><p>James spoke up.</p><p>"What are you saying, Lily? She's our daughter, of course she will do well! You don't need to be a bookworm like your mother, alright? Just have fun!"</p><p>Lily sent a fierce glare towards her husband.</p><p>"Just because she is the Girl-Who-Lived doesn't mean she will be perfect in everything, James. She needs to plan her future, too! Her fame isn't going to land her any job she wants!"</p><p>James frowned.</p><p>"We will discuss this later." he said unhappily, making Lily sigh. She didn't want to argue in front of so many people either. She nodded in affirmation.</p><p>"Fine, but we will be talking about this."</p><p>Rose then boarded on the train, immediately meeting up with her friends, Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom, and walking away to find a compartment.</p><p>Meanwhile, Harry was already sat in a compartment, door warded with privacy charms, and reading a book on Advanced Arithmancy, formulas running through his head in record speed as he concentrated.</p><p>He was eager to finish his book before he arrived to the castle.</p><p>He took out his wand, writing into the air as he calculated the amount of magic and blood needed for some Blood Magic rituals, humming happily as he did so.</p><p>He only ever felt happy when he was chatting with his family and studying.</p><p>In his last life, most of his information had been blocked in order for him to be folded into a perfect Light Saviour.</p><p>Only after Dumbledore had died had he finally had access to said information, and the things he learned had broadened his horizons.</p><p>He had always loved learning new things, and realising that there was so much more to learn about magic than he had been informed had infuriated him, but also made him extremely happy.</p><p>How could they block such magnificent studies from him? Those bastards!</p><p>Just thinking about it made his body tremble in anger, but he soon calmed himself.</p><p>This time, his life would not be like it was before.</p><p>And if Dumbledore opposed, he wouldn't know what was coming for him.</p><p>Harry grinned.</p><p>Oh yes, he would not know what was coming for him.</p><p>Even right now, the Phantom Prankster of Hogwarts was arriving to school.</p><p>Let's see who could stop him now.</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. The Sorting Ceremony</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After exiting the train, Harry headed towards the Black Lake, where Hagrid waited with the boats. He ignored the man's shouting, and stood at the side, another book about rare magical species in his hands, having successfully finished the one on Arithmancy on the train.</p><p>First years gathered up around the half-giant, and the man boarded his boat, urging to students to board as well.</p><p>Harry randomly chose one, and glanced back at the man he had been quite fond of in his previous life.</p><p>If it weren't for his naivete, and full trust in the old goat, Hagrid was a wonderful man, but precisely because of his trust in Dumbledore, He wouldn't approach him.</p><p>He wouldn't allow Dumbledore to learn anything valuable about him, even if it meant not socializing with his friends in his previous life, well, the ones not there for the money.</p><p><em>Sorry, Neville</em>, he thought sadly, glancing at said boy looking shyly to the ground, with Ross bragging loudly about her new broom. <em>Until you are away from my sister, I cannot allow myself to talk to you</em>.</p><p>{}</p><p>After they arrived and jumped off the boats, Harry stayed in the corner, making himself as unnoticeable as possible in order not to attract any attention.</p><p>"Red hair, hand-me-down clothes... you must be a Weasley." came the familiar voice of Draco Malfoy.</p><p>"Shut up, you filthy Death Eater!" cried out Ron Weasley, making Harry sigh.</p><p>Malfoy, in his previous life, while quite antagonistic, had been on their side. In fact, he had only won against Voldemort thanks to the blond throwing him his wand.</p><p>Ron, on the other hand, had been a whiny bitch, always jealous of the attention Harry got, unwanted attention, he had informed the redhead many times, and being unhelpful generally.</p><p>He shook his head at the blatant moron the boy was.</p><p>Accusing an eleven-year-old of being a Death Eater? That would have meant that he had been marked at a <em>year-old</em> at oldest, and a <em>newborn</em> at youngest.</p><p>What bullshit.</p><p>Malfoy scoffed.</p><p>"My father was under the Imperius Curse. We are innocent, as proven by the Wisengamot."</p><p>Harry held in his snort.</p><p>It was public knowledge that the Ministry had received a generous donation days before the Death Eater trials.</p><p>Plus, one couldn't receive the Dark Mark without desiring it, although this piece of information wasn't known by many.</p><p>Young Malfoy was also quite idiotic, it seemed.</p><p>McGonagall arrived with the clacking of her shoes. Her speech was the exact same as in Harry's previous life, so he zoned out, instead caressing Hogwarts' magic with his own, the castle responding immediately, a smile gracing his face at the warm feeling.</p><p>This was another thing he had noticed in his previous life.</p><p>Heirs and Lords of Hogwarts could interact with the castle's magic.</p><p>He now had connection to the wards, and frowned as he felt them, going over them one by one.</p><p>Just like in his last life, the wards had been tampered with.</p><p>There were multiple anti-apparation wards, but a single one would have been enough to hold anyone out, so they were just a waste of magic.</p><p>There were also several magic leaches on Dark Creature repelling wards, and several detection wards put to monitor magic cast in the hallways.</p><p>It seemed Dumbledore was leaching off of Hogwarts, and slowly destroying it's magic.</p><p>What rudeness!</p><p>Harry promised himself that as soon as he had enough time, he would pay a visit to the Ward Stone.</p><p>The students went in the Hall, as the door opened loudly, chattering filling the Hall.</p><p>Harry knew for a fact that it was louder than usual, but it was obvious what the reason was.</p><p>Rose Potter.</p><p>All eyes were on her from the moment she had arrived, and from her pompous smirk, she was very aware of it.</p><p>McGonagall announced the start of the ceremony, and one by one, the students sat under the Hat, and went to their decided Houses.</p><p>When it came to Hermione, Harry barely held in his glare, as the girl shared a small smile with Dumbledore.</p><p>The girl obviously didn't fit in Gryffindor, but as she had to be next to Rose, Dumbledore was secretly interfering with the Sorting.</p><p>He pulled up his mental barriers tightly, making sure that Dumbledore wouldn't see anything he thought.</p><p>His eyes trailed upon the teachers, and seeing Snape shoot a look of contempt at Rose made his lips quirk slightly upwards in amusement.</p><p>In his last life, the man had been a right bastard, but in this life, he would make sure he was treated differently.</p><p>He didn't look much like his father to start with, so that was an improvement. And as soon as he showed that he had the brains of Lily, he was sure that the Professor wouldn't treat him as bad in this life.</p><p>A smirk sat upon his lips as he though about how much Rose would suffer.</p><p>Just then, Sally-Anne Perks was called, and Harry knew the next one was him.</p><p>An excited chatter erupted in the Hall, as most thought it was time for the Girl-Who-Lived's Sorting. But, to their surprise, a different name was called.</p><p>"Potter, Harry."</p><p>There was silence in the Hall, then shouting started, causing McGonagall to silence them angrily.</p><p>"Can Harry Potter please step forward?" she asked once the voices were down.</p><p>Harry put stepped forward, movements elegant, and face nonchalant. Those who hadn't played any attention to him before were shocked: he looked nothing like a Potter.</p><p>If anything, along with his manners, he was more like a Black than any other!</p><p>Harry sat down on the stool, once again tightening his Occlumency shields to their limits, and the Hat was dropped on his head, engulfing half his head from how big it was.</p><p>'<em>Please lower  Occlumency shields, Mr. Potter, else I will not be able to sort you</em>!' the Hat cried out.</p><p>'<em>Unless I am 100% sure that the Headmaster does not have access to my head, I refuse to</em>.' replied the boy.</p><p>The Hat was silent for a bit, then a sigh was heard in Harry's head.</p><p>'<em>Do not worry, although the Headmaster has managed to breach a few of the wards placed on me, the most he can do is make me more accepting to the students' wishes. He does not know what we are talking about, nor can he see inside your head</em>.'</p><p>Lowering his shields in acceptance of the answer, he stayed silent while the Hat went through his mind.</p><p>'<em>I see. I understand why you asked me what your asked now. Do not worry, young Heir, I am but loyal to Hogwarts, and Hogwarts only. Dumbledore is but the Headmaster, he is not the master of this castle. Your words hold much more authority than his</em>.' It then hummed. '<em>Now, where shall I place you in. You are most suitable in Slytherin, but I have a feeling you would not like that.</em>'</p><p>'<em>Correct</em>,' Harry agreed. '<em>If I go in there, there is a possibility that my father might try to disown me, as he is not of sound mind right now. I would prefer to go to Ravenclaw, if possible</em>.'</p><p>The Hat responded by calling the House out loud.</p><p>'I<em> would like to chat with you later, Young Heir, and hear your story. You have come a long way here</em>.'</p><p>Harry agreed with it, and after asking for the Hat's name, which turned out to be Alastair, he walked off.</p><p>The Hall was filled with chatter. A Potter in anywhere other than <em>Gryffindor</em>? It was stunning to even think about!</p><p>But their anticipation for his sister's Sorting soon took over their surprise, and as the girl stepped forward, the Hall was completely quiet.</p><p>"Potter, Rose."</p><p>The girl went up to the stage, a slight swagger in her steps, and an arrogant smirk on her face, and sat down on the stool.</p><p>She was under the Hat for quite some time, and whispers of a Hat Stall covered the Hall.</p><p>After some time, the Hat sighed out loud, and shouted what everyone had been waiting for.</p><p>"GRYFFINDOR!"</p><p>Cheers filled the table full of Lions, as Rose went to sit there, while the rest of the students looked unhappy, but understanding.</p><p>It was expected for the Golden Girl to be in the House filled with Light Wizards, after all.</p><p>As the Sorting finished, Harry took one last look at Rose, and closed his eyes.</p><p>This was fine. He had already changed so much, and now, it was time to make allies.</p><p>He blatantly ignored Dumbledore's speech as he thought.</p><p>Now, how to be free of Dumbles' influence?</p><p>Because the old coot would never let him taint the Potter family's reputation, it was obvious that he would try to persuade Harry to get along with Rose.</p><p>A smirk spread on his face as an idea came to his head.</p><p>Well, it seemed that his first victim would be the Golden Girl herself. In order to make allies, first he needed to take off the rose-tinted glasses on people's eyes, and make them see who the Brat-Who-Brags really was.</p><p>Oh, this was going to be <em>fun</em>.</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Golden Girl To... Silver Girl?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day, at breakfast, all had arrived but the Gryffindor first years. Harry chewed on his carrot that he loved to eat, attracting disbelief at his careless actions from the Slytherins,</p><p>He hummed, placing his head on his palm, staring at the entrance of the Hall.</p><p>When were they going to arrive? If the Gryffindors didn't arrive soon, how would everyone see what his prank had turned them to?</p><p>How annoying. He had wasted fifteen minutes for that prank.</p><p>Just as he was thinking that, in came said first years, and all noise died down as everyone saw what they looked like.</p><p>Then, laughter erupted.</p><p>All Gryffindor first years now had Slytherin green hair and skin, and all their robes had been turned silver. All first years looked sweaty from rushing there, and the embarrassment of the laughter turned their cheeks a darker green colour, making the students laugh even harder.</p><p>McGonagall stood up and rushed to them, waving her wand and pronouncing spell after spell, but nothing worked. The most it did was switch the colours, making their clothes green and body silver.</p><p>The elderly witch turned to the hall with a sigh.</p><p>"Can the perpetrator of this prank please step forward?"</p><p>As expected, nobody did. Eyes went to the Weasley twins, but they shook their heads. They hadn't done that, although they would have liked to have.</p><p>McGonagall spoke up once again.</p><p>"I promise that if the perpetrator steps forward, no points shall be docked or detentions assigned. This is a marvellous work of transfiguration, and I would like to see who has such skill to be able to accomplish this."</p><p>Once again, nobody stepped forward, and McGonagall sighed, turning back to the pranked kids.</p><p>"I am afraid that I cannot cancel this spell. You must wait until the effects vanish. Until then, you will be stuck like this, unfortunately."</p><p>Rose explodes right then and there, turning to the Hall in anger.</p><p>"How dare you do this to me! I am the <em>Girl-Who-Lived</em>, the <em>Saviour</em> <em>of the</em> <em>Magic World</em>! How can you treat me like this! I order the one who did this to undo what they have done!"</p><p>The Hall was silent once again, people staring in disbelief at the girl.</p><p>She wasn't anything like any of them had believed. She wasn't kind like anyone had thought, just an arrogant <em>brat</em>!</p><p>Some thought that it was because of embarrassment, and dismissed it, but others were alarmed.</p><p>Was this the <em>real</em> her?</p><p>The rose-tinted <strong>(Author: pfft, unintentional pun)</strong> visions of many shattered, while others persuaded themselves that this was a one time thing, that they understood her wrong.</p><p>Just then, one of the Weasley twins (<em>George, Harry could recognize. He was one of the only to be able to identify the twins</em>.) spoke up.</p><p>"If you've defeated You-Know-Who, then this must be nothing for you, <em>right</em>?"</p><p>The Hall was so silent that you could hear a pin drop, before Harry, at the Ravenclaw table, burst out laughing.</p><p>Everyone turned to him, and seeing him so amused, most couldn't hold themselves any longer either.</p><p>More than half of the students burst out laughing, some 'ooh'ing.</p><p>"Ooh, <em>burn</em>!" cried out Lee Jordan, urging the others to laugh even harder.</p><p>Meanwhile, Rose turned best red, well, her skin was still silver, so she turned an ugly shade of gray.</p><p>She stomped towards the Ravenclaw table, and slapped Harry, <em>hard</em>.</p><p>The laughter immediately died down, everyone staring in disbelief at the girl who just slapped her brother for just <em>laughing</em>.</p><p>"How dare you laugh at me, you filth! I know you're jealous of me because <em>I'm</em> the Chosen One and not you, but that doesn't give you the right to embarrass me like this!" she screeched.</p><p>Harry, though, was calm. He smiled at his sister like nothing happened.</p><p>"I apologize, little sister. I know you're still angry that I got the Potter Heirship and not you, but I didn't think you were shameless enough to take revenge for something as petty as jealousy. I only laughed at you because you looked funny, it's not like I <em>committed a crime</em>."</p><p>Snickers filled the Hall as people heard that the so-called Girl-Who-Lived wasn't chosen by magic to be the Heir to her own House, and Rose sputtered, taking back a step.</p><p>Seeing everyone staring at her, she straightened herself, cheeks still burning, and tried to cover her mistake up.</p><p>"T-that's only because Lady Magic must have felt sorry for you, since your weren't the Chosen One! You're not better than me, you're just <em>pitied</em>!"</p><p>The Hall erupted into boos.</p><p>Inheriting a House because Lady Magic <em>pitied</em> them? Anyone raised in the Magic World would know that was <em>impossible</em>.</p><p>Inheritances were given to those deemed <em>worthy</em>, and insulting an Heir meant insulting <em>Magic herself</em>!</p><p>Harry straightened, a glare on his face, making Rose cover. She had never seen him angry before, how could he be so <em>scary</em>! She was the <em>Girl-Who-Lived</em>, she couldn't be <em>intimidated</em> by <em>him</em>.</p><p>She laughed, pointing a finger at him.</p><p>"Hah! Angry are you? You know I'm right! After all, you're <em>not</em> as important as me! <em>I</em> saved the Magical World, while you just stayed <em>behind</em> me, <em>I</em> took the <em>Killing Curse</em> and <em>lived</em>!" She pointed at her cheek, the one with the scar on it, and smirked.</p><p>Harry sighed.</p><p>"You're actually <em>stupid</em>, aren't you? Magic doesn't have <em>emotions</em>: magic is <em>power</em>. Lady Magic chooses the <em>worthy one</em> for inheritance; that is why age does not matter for Magical Inheritances. It matters not that you are the so-called <em>Chosen One</em>, if you are not deemed worthy, you <em>cannot</em> inherit any titles. And Magic has deemed you <em>unworthy</em>, and yet you <em>insult</em> her in such a way. Such a <em>fool</em> you are!"</p><p>At this, Dumbledore sat up, silencing the Hall.</p><p>"Harry, my boy, that is enough." he said, a grandfatherly smile on his face. "You <em>cannot</em> insult Young Rose like this. Please apologize."</p><p>Harry turned to the Headmaster, face blank of any emotions.</p><p>"I apologize, Headmaster Dumbledore, but I am not '<em>your boy</em>', nor did I give you <em>permission</em> to call me by my name. You shall call me <em>Heir Potter</em>, though at school, <em>Mr. Potter</em> shall suffice."</p><p>The Headmaster was internally fuming, but his mask only wavered for a second before he smiled again.</p><p>"But, my boy-" Harry cut in.</p><p>"Professor, I have <em>just</em> told you that I am not '<em>your boy'</em>. Please <em>cease</em> calling me such an <em>intimate</em> title when I have not talked to you even <em>once</em> before this day. I ask of you to be mindful of your words."</p><p>Dumbledore's face twitched, and from the corner of his eye, Harry could see that the Slytherins were smirking at the old goat's anger. He could see appreciative glances sent his way.</p><p>Dumbledore once again spoke up.</p><p>"<em>Mr. Potter</em>," he spoke through gritted teeth. "Please see me at my office before classes start."</p><p>Harry tilted his head to the side, eyes shining innocently.</p><p>"I do not understand the reason for me to do so, Headmaster. I have <em>not</em> insulted you, <em>nor</em> do I have <em>a single problem</em> with this school nor my education. Unless you give me an appropriate reason, I shall not comply to your... <em>request</em>."</p><p>Dumbledore was about to explode. He gritted his teeth and could barely speak form his anger.</p><p>What was this <em>blatant insolence</em>? He was <em>Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Defeater of Dark Lord Grindelwald, Previous Saviour of the Magic World, the Lord of the Light Faction</em>! He had <em>three</em> important titles, and this boy <em>dared</em> not to obey him?</p><p>"You have insulted your sister, so I <em>will</em> be seeing you in my office." he said finally.</p><p>Harry once again acted innocent.</p><p>"But Professor, is calling someone 'stupid' really <em>such</em> a crime that I must discuss it with <em>you</em>? From what I know, at most, I will lose 5 points from insulting a fellow student. Or,", he leaned forward, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "is the problem that I have insulted the <em>Girl-Who-Lived</em>? Headmaster, are you <em>favouring</em> a student?"</p><p>Many gaped at his bluntness, but the Slytherins were on Cloud Nine. The brother of the precious Saviour of Light was insulting the Light Lord! <em>This</em> was the entertainment they craved for!</p><p>Dumbledore slammed a hand to the table.</p><p>"How <em>dare</em> you! Twenty points from Ravenclaw for rude behaviour, and you will have detention every other day for a month!"</p><p>Everyone gasped at the punishment! That was the punishment for breaking several rules, and the Headmaster was using them on a student that only called another 'idiot'!</p><p>This was <em>ridiculous</em>!</p><p>Harry once again tilted his head to the side.</p><p>"I do <em>not</em> understand how I was 'behaving rudely', as you have put it. I have only asked a question, Headmaster. But you are acting like I insulted you." He then gasped, bringing a hand to cover his mouth. "Oh my! Is my speculation <em>correct</em>, in fact? Is that why you are punishing me?" He bowed to the old goat, who was fuming at this point. "<em>I am so sorry</em> Headmaster, I didn't know it was supposed to be a <em>secret</em>! I <em>promise</em> I won't tell anyone else! I really am sorry!" He raised his head, looking pitiful. "I didn't think that I had guessed <em>correctly</em>! I promise I <em>didn't know</em>!"</p><p>The Slytherins started snickering, as did the Weasley Twins, and as McGonagall start to argue with Dumbledore, his punishment was retracted, not that the old man was happy about it.</p><p>
  <em>The whole student body had already heard everything. What did it matter if he didn't tell anyone else? Everyone already knew now!</em>
</p><p>Harry sat down, satisfied with his acting, and continued eating like nothing had happened.</p><p>This was the best day in his life: embarrassing his dear sister and insulting Dumbledore at the same time?</p><p>He was having a great day.</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. The First Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After breakfast, everyone was passed out their class schedules. Harry smiled at Professor Flitwick politely, and thanked him.</p><p>"Thank you for handing me my schedule, Professor." Flitwick smiled back, but the searching glint in his eyes indicated he was expecting something more.</p><p>"No problem, Mr. Potter. It is my duty, after all."</p><p>Harry's smile widened. So the goblins really were in communication with the half-goblin professor. It seems the Intel on Hogwarts came from him.</p><p>As the professor walked past him, he whispered behind him softly in Gobbledygook.</p><p>"<em>Good day, Professor</em>." The man whipped around, but Harry had already turned around walking away, a small smirk on his face.</p><p>The only one who had noticed the small exchange was Severus Snape, who felt interest in the Boy-Who-Was-Forgotten.</p><p>A small smirk graced the Slytherin's features as he saw the shock on the half-goblin professor's face, and then the smirk on the Potter Heir's own.</p><p>It seemed this year would be much more different than he had expected.</p><p>{}</p><p>Their first lesson was Herbology with the Slytherins. Harry, who already knew where the classroom was, told his fellow Ravenclaw first years to follow him.</p><p>Together, they headed out of the castle, and we're met with the Slytherins on their way out.</p><p>Both groups decided to travel together, and in the silence, one of them approached Harry.</p><p>Harry turned his head slightly at the soft cough, and smiled elegantly.</p><p>"Heir Malfoy. A pleasure to meet you after all these years. I have heard <em>quite</em> a lot about your House from my father."</p><p>Malfoy blinked, surprised at his kind approach, then scoffed.</p><p>"All negative, I presume?" Harry chuckled lightly.</p><p>"Unfortunately. But I must say, you are <em>not</em> what I expected." The blond coughed.</p><p>"<em>Excuse me</em>?" he asked, slightly angry. Harry waved him off.</p><p>"From what my father told me, you should have a <em>certain snake tattoo</em> on your left forearm, and be killing Muggleborns anytime you see one." He looked him over. "So, yes, <em>quite</em> different from I was told."</p><p>Malfoy blinked, silent for some time as he digested the information, before he laughed.</p><p>"How <em>stupid</em>!" Then he gasped. "Oh, I apologize if I offended you."</p><p>Harry laughed merrily.</p><p>"Not at all. My father's prejudice against the Dark Lord <em>is</em> quite stupid."</p><p>The Slytherins shared a glance, intrigued.</p><p>Daphne Greengrass stepped forward.</p><p>"What are <em>your</em> views then, Heir Potter?" she asked coldly, she was known as the Ice Queen in Harry's last life after all.</p><p>Harry turned to the girl, smile still on his face, not having dimmed in the slightest.</p><p>"That's a dangerous question to ask, Heiress Greengrass." was his reply, but from the glint in his eye, it was obvious to the young snakes that he was amused.</p><p>It seemed that the Heir of the Potter House was more Slytherin than they had thought.</p><p>They arrived soon after to the Herbology classroom, where Professor Sprout greeted them.</p><p>"Oh, you have managed to find your way, I'm glad!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "I was going to be escorting you, but you had already departed."</p><p>Harry smiled politely.</p><p>"I had already asked for directions from an older student Professor, but thank you for your consideration."</p><p>Sprout smiled back at the young Potter.</p><p>"A Ravenclaw to the core, huh?" she asked rhetorically, and opened the door. "Well, go on, come in!"</p><p>{}</p><p>The lesson was quite pleasant, actually. Contrary to Harry's expectations, Sprout was actually a very good teacher. It seems that in his life, her skills had been obstructed by the Gryffindors' laziness. But here, within the two groups of students most eager to learn, she was shining brightly.</p><p>After the lesson, Harry stayed behind for some time, asking the professor many questions. Herbology wasn't his best fort, and even if he knew quite a lot about it, he would never have the green thumb that Neville had.</p><p>Sprout was delighted that he had taken interest in the subject, and explained to him the reasons why preparing ingredients differently expected a potion's outcome so much, and Harry actually learned a lot that he hadn't known in his previous life.</p><p>It seemed he had underestimated the importance Herbology had.</p><p>After some time, he bid the professor goodbye, with a late slip in hand from all the time used for talking, and headed to the Charms classroom.</p><p>Knocking, he went in, bowing politely to the Professor who turned to him, ignoring the eyes of the Ravenclaw s and Gryffindors on him.</p><p>"I apologize for being late, Professor. Professor Sprout and I were having a pleasant discussion about the usage of herbs in Potions, and I seem to have lost track of time." He then straightened and took out his permission slip, handing it to the man. "Here is my permission slip. Once again, I am sorry for being late."</p><p>The half-goblin smiled jovially.</p><p>"Oh, that's quite alright Mr. Potter. I hope your discussion was enlightening. Do sit down."</p><p>Thanking the professor, he sat down next to Terry Boot, a dorm mate of his, smiling at him, and listened to the Professor's lecture about wand movements.</p><p>He ignored his sister's glare boring into the side of his head, all attention locked on the Professor.</p><p>{}</p><p>After class, he once again stayed behind, Professor Flitwick looking quite happy that he was there.</p><p>"So my associates were right about your language skills." he told the boy, but to his surprise, the boy wasn't the slightest bit shaken by the information.</p><p>Instead, he saw the boy flicking his wrist, and several privacy wards surrounded them, making him raise an eyebrow. <em>Interesting</em>.</p><p>Contrary to popular belief, Filius Flitwick <em>wasn't</em> a naive happy-go-lucky man. He was colder and more calculative, which was why the goblins considered him to be of their race despite his half-blood status.</p><p>"The goblin intelligence unit are as talented as I've heard, it seems." the boy replied instead. "As much as I'd like to chat, we haven't enough time. Would it be possible to continue this after dinner?"</p><p>Flitwick nodded, a satisfied smile on his face. Harry Potter was indeed no ordinary child. He looked forward to hearing more about him.</p><p>"Of course." The boy flicked his wrist once more in response, the wards disappearing.</p><p>"Then," he said, a more childish tone bleeding into his voice. "May I ask some questions about wandless and wordless magic?"</p><p>{}</p><p>Both student and professor headed to lunch together, chatting pleasantly on the way. They got some strange looks on the way, but they were so deep in the conversation that they didn't care.</p><p>The Great Hall was greeted with another weird scene: a professor and a students in a deep discussion about why Wizards required to use wands.</p><p>After Harry arrived to his table, he bid the half-goblin farewell with the promise of continuing their talk another time.</p><p>Flitwick went to the Head Table and sat down, starting to talk to Sprout, and from the looks they shot Harry, it was obviously about him.</p><p>Harry ignored the looks everyone was giving him, placing some potato salad on his plate.</p><p>Finally, someone spoke up.</p><p>"Dude, were you just discussing <em>Charms</em> with <em>Flitwick</em>?" asked Michael Corner. Harry smiled politely at him.</p><p>"Yes, is there a problem?" The boy gaped at him, but shook it off after a few seconds.</p><p>"He's a <em>professor</em>, he has a <em>Master's Degree</em> in Charms. To actually have a discussion as heated as that one with a professor, are you a monster?" he exclaimed.</p><p>The noise attracted attention, and the whole Ravenclaw House was soon listening.</p><p>Harry just smiled sheepishly.</p><p>"I've always had a liking to Charms, and I've read a lot about it. Especially about wandless magic, I mean, who doesn't want to be able do magic without having to deal with the Trace? That's what we were discussing."</p><p>Penelope Clearwater, the 5th grade Prefect leaned forward in interest.</p><p>"<em>And</em>?" she prompted.</p><p>Harry grinned.</p><p>"<em>Theoretically</em>, using magic with a wand is easier because we have a <em>specific target</em> to focus our magic on, and wands are made of special woods that resonate with wizards' magical cores." he explained. "So, <em>theoretically</em>, if we think of a part of our body as the <em>focus point</em> of our magic, as it's connected with our magical core, we <em>can</em> do wandless magic."</p><p>Many people seemed deep in thought, and the other first years were excited.</p><p>"So, even if we don't have an affinity to it, <em>can</em> we do wandless magic?" asked Boot.</p><p>Harry nodded.</p><p>"Yes, a magical affinity is the ease which you can accomplish a magical skill. Even if you have no affinity, with hard work and the correct instruction, you can learn a skill you want to have."</p><p>Sue Li hummed.</p><p>"Why isn't this taught to us in class?" he asked to nobody in particular.</p><p>"Because it is just theory, there isn't any proof that it can work." came a voice form behind him. He jumped and turned around.</p><p>It was Professor Flitwick.</p><p>"Professor!" he cried out in surprise.</p><p>Flitwick just smiled, continuing his lecture.</p><p>"If someone tries hard enough, maybe it <em>will</em> work, who knows?"</p><p>And during the whole lunch hour, the students asked to the professor their questions about the subject, excited about the idea of wandless magic.</p><p>The other professors looked surprised that such a discussion was happening in the Great Hall, with so many interested students. Normally, they had to force their students to learn subjects with the threat of OWLs and NEWTs.</p><p>An open lecture like this had never happened before.</p><p>McGonagall hummed, thoughtful.</p><p>"Maybe I could do something like this as well." she commented, a few other professors nodding at her words.</p><p>Meanwhile, Dumbledore looked livid. He had done so much to limit the curriculum to weaken the next generation, and now all his hard work was gone to nothing.</p><p>There was a reason why wandless magic wasn't a part of the curriculum anymore!</p><p>If more and more Magicals learned how to do magic without the dependence on wands, they would get <em>stronger</em>.</p><p><em>Stronger than he wanted them to be</em>.</p><p>It was easy to mold the <em>weak</em>, and to have them weak, he needed to <em>limit</em> their information and skills.</p><p>But now, <em>everything was crumbling</em>. He had half a mind to storm over there and end the discussion, but that would put a stain on his grandfatherly image.</p><p>So, he could do nothing but smile forcefully, glaring daggers at the table, fists clenched until they were white.</p><p>Harry smirked.</p><p>
  <em>Upsetting Dumbledore always cheered him up.</em>
</p><p>His plan was successful.</p><p>It would soon be time for the next faze.</p><p>He couldn't wait to see the old goat's face when the Board requested him to reinstate the subjects he had put a stop to, by claiming they were Dark Magic.</p><p>But to do that, he needed to have a conversation with Lord Malfoy.</p><p>
  <em>He was giddy already.</em>
</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Letters</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day, at breakfast, the letters from families started arriving, owl hoots filling the hall.</p><p>As Scotland was quite far from London, even with the owls' pace, it took a day or two for the letters to be received, and another day or two for them the reply to arrive to Hogwarts.</p><p>Harry saw his pitch black owl, Cato, meaning 'all-knowing', fly to him, and smiled sadly.</p><p>He missed Hedwig, and he would have liked to once again have her, but she attracted too much attention.</p><p>So, instead, Rose had bought Hedwig, naming her Morgana, and although the now Morgana didn't quite like her, she still obeyed her.</p><p>Harry held out his hand, and Cato softly landed on it, dropping his letter to the table, then hooting and nuzzling his cheek, making him chuckle softly.</p><p>"Hello, Cato." he greeted, and the owl practically smiled, nuzzling the hand he had held out to let him.</p><p>Anthony Goldstein 'whoa'ed.</p><p>"Wow, Harry, your owl seems quite taken with you."</p><p>Harry chuckled.</p><p>"Yes, he seems to adore me for some reason. As soon as I laid my eyes on him, he rammed into his cage door, trying to reach me."</p><p>Boot whistled.</p><p>"I wish <em>mine</em> was like that." he said with a sigh, pointing at the barn owl glaring at him while perched on the table, nibbling some bacon.</p><p>Harry took a strap of bacon, and handed it to Cato, who took it happily. Then, he picked up another one, and offered it to the barn owl.</p><p>Boot gaped.</p><p>"<em>Mate, don't do that!</em> He'll bite you!" He stood up, trying to reach out, but the owl had already leaned in towards Harry's finger.</p><p>Contrary to their expectations, the owl just hooted, and nipping his finger slightly, grabbed the strap, happily chewing on it.</p><p>Both Boot and Goldstein gaped at Harry.</p><p>"That's <em>amazing</em>, Harry!" Boot cried out. "<em>How</em> did you <em>do</em> that?"</p><p>Harry smiled politely.</p><p>"I've always been likeable to animals, I guess." he told them.</p><p>Both boys sighed.</p><p>"Man, you're <em>really</em> amazing: with your knowledge in Charms and now <em>this</em>, I could believe it if <em>you</em> were the Chosen One instead!" exclaimed Goldstein, leaning backwards in defeat. "Seriously, I don't have any <em>other</em> explanation as to how you're so <em>bloody</em> perfect!"</p><p>A slam was heard from the Gryffindor table, and Rose stood up, fuming, with Ronald Weasley supporting her, equally red.</p><p>"<em>How dare you!</em> <em>I'm</em> the Girl-Who-Lived, <em>I'm</em> the Defeater of Voldemort!" Gasps filled the Great Hall at the uttered name of the feared Dark Lord. "That bloody insect did <em>nothing</em>!"</p><p>Ron also shouted.</p><p>"Yeah, apologize to Rose!" he cried out, making Harry scoff.</p><p>"<em>Sycophant</em>." he mumbled under his breath, but visibly, he smiled politely.</p><p>"I apologize if we came off as rude. Anthony and Terry were just surprised that I got along well with a horribly tempered owl, is all! We didn't mean to offend you, my dear sister, or your follower."</p><p>The Weasley turned brighter than his hair.</p><p>"How <em>dare</em> you! I'm not her <em>follower</em>, I'm her <em>best friend</em>! <em>Unlike</em> you <em>Junior Death Eaters</em>, we don't <em>do</em> followers at the <em>Light</em> Side!"</p><p>The Great Hall was filled with silence, many shocked still at the insult. Calling someone a follower of a Dark Lord like that, was that boy insane?</p><p>Harry's lips pursed.</p><p>"You are acting irrationally. Please sit down, and I shall ignore what you have just told."</p><p>Weasley scoffed.</p><p>"I'm <em>right</em>, aren't I? What, can't to attack me now that your Lord is <em>dead</em>? Are you <em>scared</em>?" he taunted, and Harry sighed.</p><p>"Please cease your <em>foolish</em> accusations." he told the boy, voice firm. "If you are accusing me of siding with the man who <em>attacked</em> <em>my family</em>, you are much more foolish than I have thought. <em>Mind your words,</em> Mr. Weasley."</p><p>The redhead seemed to have realized what he had said, and shut his mouth, flushing in embarrassment.</p><p>After a few minutes, the Hall turned back to the way it was, and Harry turned to the two boys who had unwillingly started the fight.</p><p>"It seems that there are quite rash people in our year." he said, so unbothered by the heavy accusation that even the 6th year Prefect cried out in anger.</p><p>"Is he <em>insane</em>? He just- he just accused you of <em>joining</em> the person who attempted to <em>murder</em> your <em>parents</em>!" he exclaimed, but Harry just smiled at the boy.</p><p>"Thank you for defending me, but it's alright." he said, and the Ravenclaw gaped at the boy who had just acted like being accuse of something so farce was nothing at all.</p><p>Many felt their respect for the Potter Heir rise after the argument. Although they didn't know much about the boy, he had always been left under his sister's shadow.</p><p>Instead of becoming a jealous person, he was a kind and forgiving boy mature beyond his years.</p><p>Penelope Clearwater sighed in exhaustion.</p><p>"I'll tell Percy to keep a tighter leash on his brother." she told the table, and many nodded in agreement if the decision.</p><p>Harry beamed up at the girl.</p><p>"Thank you for helping me! I'm <em>really</em> glad we're members of the same House!" he said cheerfully, and at the innocent expression on his face, many melted.</p><p><em>An angel?</em>, some thought hallucinating and seeing a halo on his head, while others just marvelled at the boy's forgiveness.</p><p>Harry internally smirked. <em>Hook, line and sinker.</em></p><p>They didn't need to know that he had expected the argument happening when he had decided to show his talent with handling animals.</p><p>A slight smirk appeared on his face, but he hid it by sipping his tea, chatting happily with his year mates, and the occasional senior student.</p><p>Severus Snape stared calculatively at the boy who had once again turned the tides to his favour.</p><p><em>Cunning indeed</em>, he thought. His speculations had been confirmed.</p><p>Harry Potter was an <em>enigma</em>. An enigma with <em>excellent</em> social skills, and a knack for manipulation.</p><p>Meanwhile, Dumbledore fumed. The boy had once again won an argument with his sister, and from the looks of it, people were starting to get suspicious of the two's relationship.</p><p>He needed to prevent the truth from being uncovered, that Young Rose wasn't the <em>perfect Light Saviour</em> she was envisioned to be.</p><p>But before he could act upon his plans, the Hogwarts Rumour Mill did its job.</p><p>A few hours after the argument, a rumour ran within the students that <em>Rose Potter bullied Harry Potter since young, trying to oppress him.</em></p><p>Nobody knew who had started the rumour, but the effect was instantaneous: <em>everyone</em> started paying special attention to the interactions between the twins.</p><p>Meanwhile, the perpetrator smirked, humming happily while ignoring the eyes on him, his green jewels hid behind his eyelids in satisfaction.</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. The First Potions Lesson</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was time for the Ravenclaw first years's first Potion lesson.</p><p>Harry was quite excited. Potions was a subject he was passionate about, in his past life, even if his talent was suppressed by core blocks (guess who?) and Snape's suppression, after the defeat of Voldemort, he had become an expert in the art, albeit secretly.</p><p>None of his so-called friends had never been aware of his talents or smarts, as if they were they would feel threatened.</p><p>It was much more easy to pretend in front of someone thought to be stupid than smart, and this way, when they weren't acting properly, Harry could once again be reminded that their relationship wasn't real, that it only happened because of his money.</p><p>That he wasn't just paranoid, that every suspicion of his was real.</p><p>He shook his head to clear it of the thoughts, and diverted his attention to the first years's conversation about the notorious Potions Professor.</p><p>"-the second years are saying that Snape favours the Slytherins and hates the others, never giving points, but he hates Gryffindor so much that no Gryffindor has ever gotten an E!" Boot cried out, and Harry shook his hrad, chuckling.</p><p>The sound made the others turn to him, and Mandy Brocklehurst, who didn't like him for some reason, scoffed.</p><p>"You think this is funny, Potter?" she growled. "Well, I guess with your Heir status, you needn't study at all! But not all of us are as lucky as you!"</p><p>Harry smiled at her, ignoring her words.</p><p>"I don't think Professor Snape will be as bad as we've been told," he told the first years, who had perked up at his words. "simply because he has a strong target this year." He made a 'V' in the air, symbolising Rose's scar, and the other blinked, then brightened.</p><p>"That's right!" Goldstein exclaimed in relief. "Snape hates James Potter the most, from what I've heard. So, coupled with being the GWL, Rose Potter would be his biggest target!" Then he glanced at Harry unsurely. "But Harry, James Potter is your father too, won't he treat you differently?"</p><p>Brocklehurst laughed.</p><p>"Serves you right, Potter, for being an arrogant ponce!"</p><p>Harry continued smiling.</p><p>"I don't have anything to be wary of." he said confidently. "I've already read all material needed for first year, and now have brewed all first year potions before, to the point of perfection. I'm quite sure that I could pass first year Potions right now if I took the test."</p><p>The others gaped at the information, Brocklehurst scoffing once again, not that Harry cared.</p><p>Idiots would be idiots after all.</p><p>"You don't need to flaunt your wealth in front of us, we already know of all the private tutors hired by your family. You've obviously studied under them! We don't have the same chance, you were just born lucky! You're not special or anything!"</p><p>Harry sighed, scratching his head, then tilted it slightly to the side, eyes filled with confusion.</p><p>"But I've never had any tutors?" he said questioningly. "All of the ones hired by our family taught etiquette or general knowledge, and the one who needed those lessons was Rose, not me. I've never had any tutors."</p><p>Seeing some people perk up at the knowledge, he internally smirked.</p><p>Yet another small proof that he was being treated differently than his sister, which the Hogwarts rumour mill would probably twist into something much more amazing and horrifying to hear.</p><p>Harry couldn't wait to see the fruits of his labour.</p><p>And so, they arrived to the Potions classroom, seeing the Hufflepuffs behind them quiver and shake at the place.</p><p>Well, the dungeons were a more intimidating place. Plus, it was several degrees colder down there, and the students hadn't learned warming charms yet.</p><p>Turning to the Ravenclaws and seeing them shivering also, he flicked his wrist from under his outer robes and watched as the students calmed, colour returning to their faces.</p><p>Doing the same to the Hufflepuffs, he went back to chatting with his dorm mates, waiting for the 'dungeon bat' to arrive, as they had been told he was called.</p><p>Snape arrived several minutes later, unlocking the classroom with a huff, and as they took their seats, gave his speech that he always seemed to give the first years about 'bottling glory' and 'putting a stopper to death'.</p><p>That hadn't stopped him from dying in Voldemort's hand.</p><p>Shaking himself from those thoughts, he saw Snape's face go ugly as he arrived at Harry's name, and lips twitching in annoyance</p><p>"Potter, Harry." He called, practically spitting Harry's last name, and the first years sent putting glances at the jewel-eyed boy, who ignored the disgust in his voice, and answered in a perfect tone of voice.</p><p>"Present, sir."</p><p>The man paused, staring at him suspiciously as if suddenly expecting him to attack him, then continued taking attendance.</p><p>After the attendance, he immediately turned to Harry, and started asking him the same three questions as his last life.</p><p>Harry proceeded to answer them perfectly, and the man have him a curt nod.</p><p>"It seems that you are at least more competent than your counterpart." he said, and the students gasped at the praise, making the man glare at them. "But don't even get your head too big. Understood?"</p><p>Harry nodded, smiling slightly. He knew that warning was also directed at his potions making.</p><p>One should never get arrogant for their skills, lest they could mess up a potion and suffer the consequences.</p><p>"Of course, sir. Thank you for your reminder. And I do hope my sister did not tire you too much. If so, I apologise on her behalf." He then stood up and bowed at the man, making him blink in surprise.</p><p>"Sit down." he only said, and as Harry sat down, turned around, starting his lesson.</p><p>At the end of the lesson, as the got out of the classroom, Harry heard a calm voice behind him.</p><p>"Five points to Ravenclaw for proper respect towards a Professor."</p><p>The ones who heard that gaped and snapped their heads to Harry, who had the ghost of a smile on his face.</p><p>Goldstein groaned.</p><p>"What the hell, Harry? Just what are you? I'm really starting to believe you are special."</p><p>Harry chuckled in response.</p><p>"Everyone is special in their own way." </p><p>Both boys next to him groaned.</p><p>"Come on, Harry, it would be better if you bragged! You sound like my Grandpa!"</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Time For Flight!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Time moved forward, and the time came for the Ravenclaw first years' first flying lesson with the Hufflepuffs.</p><p>Harry was unbothered by the nervous and expectant air around the students, and as he chatted calmly at the breakfast table, Terry noted that with a groan.</p><p>"What the hell, Harry, are you not nervous at all?" he finally got out after twenty-odd minutes of dining, attracting the attention of Michael and Anthony as he did so.</p><p>Harry just laughed softly.</p><p>"Well, I am lucky due to the superior flying genetics I inherited from my father," he answered, wiping his lips skillfully after finishing the last few bites of his toast. "and, well, this won't be my first time on a broom; my father and godfather made sure of that."</p><p>Brocklehurst scoffed from the side, obviously having listened in to the conversation.</p><p>"Stop showing off, Potter." she snapped, and Michael, who had had enough of her attitude, finally snapped after a week of tolerance.</p><p>"You, what do you have against Harry? He's done nothing to you, yet you keep insulting him and complaining about his wealth! Are you jealous or something?" </p><p>The girl's face reddened, and her eyebrows narrowed, as her eyes frantically rolled around, thinking of a response for the accusation, which was spot on. Harry felt the corner of his lips turn up slightly at the sight of the flustered girl but hid it behind his napkin, pretending to continue wiping his face clean of his food.</p><p>"I-I'm not!" Brocklehurst sputtered out after a while, her face reddening even more when she stuttered, making the boys snicker. "I'm just really bothered by Potter hinting at all the money he has all the time!" </p><p>Harry raised an eyebrow at that, placing his napkin down on the table.</p><p>"I do not recall doing such a thing. If I may request an example?"</p><p>The girl stilled at that, mind working overtime to find a solution, the eyes on her impairing her concentration.</p><p>"Y-you just bragged about being taught how to fly at a young age!" she accused him, making the Avada Kedavra eyed boy sigh in disappointment.</p><p>"Many magical families do so to their children, though," he said with a hum. "For example, the Weasleys do so, and I do not believe that they are considered 'rich'," Then he turned to the Gryffindor table, seeing if any of said redheads had heard his remark, and seeing that they were unaware, turned back to the beet red girl, smiling slightly. "not that I'm saying this to insult them, or anything. It's just an example." His fingers tapped on the table calmly, and he rested his chin on one hand, eyes flickering back and forth from them to Brocklehurst. "So, your argument is flawed, wouldn't you say so?"</p><p>The girl gaped, a strangled sound escaping her mouth, no words able to form, while Terry clapped Harry on the shoulder.</p><p>"Nice one, Harry!" Harry only directed his calm smile at him, not replying.</p><p>Over the week, they had become closer, and Harry was starting to think of the three boys as their first names rather than their last.</p><p>"I'm not telling this to embarrass her," he told the other boy after a while. "I'm just quite troubled with the accusations being made about me."</p><p>Terry shrugged.</p><p>"Doesn't change the fact that you just won the argument easily. You're excellent with words."</p><p>Harry chuckled.</p><p>"Thank you for the compliment."</p><p>Minutes later, they were out, heading towards the Flying Grounds, nervous chatter echoing in the broad corridors they walked through.</p><p>They arrived at the flying grounds ten-odd minutes before the lesson started, the instructor, Madam Hooch, already there, brooms laid out in two rows in front of her.</p><p>The Hufflepuffs arrived a minute before the class started, as loud and cheerful as ever, and the lesson started.</p><p>Madam Hooch instructed them about sitting and holding the broom, and Harry found the lesson quite fascinating. in his previous life, a certain redhead hadn't stopped talking, so he hadn't been able to listen as intently, but now, he was seeing how helpful the professor's lecture was.</p><p>Sometime later, Hooch told them to call out to their brooms and lift them from the ground.</p><p>"Say "up'!" she told them, and just like previously, Harry's broom shot upwards and smacked into his hand immediately.</p><p>It took some time for everyone to succeed, but afterward, came the time to mount the brooms.</p><p>Thankfully, nobody was injured this time, and the lesson went along nicely, Hooch teaching them about Quidditch, and showing them the three balls.</p><p>Harry realised that being with Gryffindor had come with unnecessary risks, and once again thanked the Hat for Sorting him to Ravenclaw in this life.</p><p>After the lesson was over, he told his friends that he had some questions to ask, and stayed behind, helping the flying instructor clear the field.</p><p>"Madam Hooch," he called out afterwards, making the woman turn around in expectation. "May I ask why the brooms are so old? I've noticed that some are rotting, and others have molds. Isn't that quite dangerous? What if they break down mid-flight?"</p><p>The professor sighed.</p><p>"I have consulted the Headmaster many times, but he refuses to renew the brooms, saying there aren't enough funds for it."</p><p>Harry hummed thoughtfully. He had guessed so. Bloody old coot.</p><p>"What if you write to the Board of Governors?" he suggested, and the woman blinked, thinking carefully.</p><p>"That might just work." she said after some time, turning to the boy and gazing intently. "I had never thought of that."</p><p>The corner of Harry's mouth quirked up slightly.</p><p>"Most don't," he replied. "Because Dumbledore seems more powerful than the Board, most think that he has the final say in the school matters, but the choices are actually decided by vote."</p><p>Hooch nodded sharply.</p><p>"I will keep that in mind. Thank you, Mr. Potter."</p><p>Harry smiled pleasantly.</p><p>"Not at all. I only wish for the best of us."</p><p>He then bid her farewell, and walked back to the castle, humming a pleasant tone.</p><p>Yet another blow to Dumbledore's power. The brooms would probably be replaced by the end of the month, when the councils were held every month. The fact that the brooms were being replaced would make many curious, and word would soon get out that it was Dumbledore who had been obstructing the renewal and endangering the students.</p><p>Harry's smile widened.</p><p>Everything was going just as planned.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. The Daily Prophet</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The month passed, and the Board meeting happened, the results leaving the whole castle in whispers.</p><p>Rumours said that the reason the brooms would finally be renewed was thanks to the Board. It was also said that the reason this had not happened earlier was because of Dumbledore.</p><p>The news spread like wildfire, some students even writing to their homes about it. The fact that Dumbledore, one of the most influential figures in Wizarding Britain had made such a blunder was quite interesting to the Britain wizarding folk.</p><p>So, when the school week started once again a day later, in the morning during breakfast, the Hall was flooded with owls carrying newspapers.</p><p>Harry let Cato perch on his shoulder, the owl nipping his ear and hooting happily, and unwrapped the newspaper, the title 'The Daily Prophet' written in bold on the front page, and a relatively large lettered article on the front as well, showing the picture of one Albums Dumbledore, face twitching in annoyance while Lucius Malfoy, the Head of the Board of Governors, mouth moving.</p><p>The jewel-eyed boy hummed happily, eyes sliding into the title of the article:</p><p>'Hogwarts Brooms Finally Being Renewed After Eighty Years! Albus Dumbledore Endangering Students'</p><p>Harry felt the corner of his lips tug upwards as he skimmed through the article written by the infamous Rita Skeeter, the woman who had ruined his reputation in his previous life, and the one thankfully helping him in this life due to, well, no short of blackmail, but that wasn't important right now.</p><p>The article was full of Rita's rantings about Dumbledore's negative behaviour and praises for the Board's correct decision.</p><p>The woman even accused Dumbledore of 'getting too old for the job', suggesting a change of Headmasters, or at least 'lessening all the hard work the poor man took up'.</p><p>In the end, Harry couldn't hold his laughter in, covering his mouth and snickering silently, shoulders slightly shaking.</p><p>Terry noticed this, looking worriedly at him. </p><p>"Harry, mate, are you alright?" he asked, leaning towards him, eyebrows knitted together.</p><p>Harry managed to stop his laughter and took his hand off of his face, giving a reassuring smile to the boy.</p><p>"I'm alright, thank you for asking, Terry. I'm just quite mortified that the headmaster could bear to endanger students like this! How awful!" His expression was that of horror, and the Slytherins seated behind him snickered, throwing him amused glances.</p><p>Anthony nodded in agreement.</p><p>"I couldn't believe it either! My mother has already written a complaint to the Ministry. She doesn't believe Dumbledore is eligible to look after the students anymore!" he exclaimed. He took a glance at the paper. "Maybe Skeeter is right: I mean, Dumbledore has been the Headmaster for around forty years! Maybe it's time for him to step down."</p><p>Sounds of agreement came from those near him, and the word spread around, reaching the Head Table after mere ten-odd minutes. As soon as it did, Dumbledore's face exploded into an ugly shade of purple, satisfying Harry and many others who disliked the man.</p><p>"How dare you!" rang out the voice of the Brat-Who-Unfortunately-Lived, the girl's face a livid red. "Headmaster Dumbledore has been looking after everyone for so many years! How could you say that!"</p><p>Dean Thomas, the one who seemed to have suggested otherwise, paled as everyone stared at them, shrinking into himself.</p><p>Dumbledore stood up, a satisfied glint in his eyes from the declaration, but otherwise his usual grandfatherly mask, and smiled jovially.</p><p>"Thank you, my girl, but that was unnecessary. I might be a bit old, but I haven't become senile just yet!" he laughed in amusement, making Harry cringe internally at the fakeness. "I might have made a little mistake, but I am quite busy after all. I assure you, I will do my best so such a thing doesn't happen again."</p><p>Harry couldn't help but scowl slightly at the shamelessness of the man.</p><p>A little mistake? People could have died because of that little mistake!</p><p>Also, he was too busy? Then Hogwarts was too much work for him after all! Or maybe he needed to drop one of his other jobs. Maybe being the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot was too much work for him after all, next to being the headmaster of Hogwarts!</p><p>Who was it that gave him so many titles in the first place? He might have defeated Gellert Grindelwald, but he was still only human.</p><p>A human with way too much influence.</p><p>Harry sighed in annoyance at the thought. Dumbledore was no saint, just powerful and a genius manipulator. It horrified him that so many people actually believed he was the second coming of Merlin.</p><p>At least the Dark faction was a little smarter.</p><p>Harry snapped back to reality with Rose's wailings about Dumbledore's greatness, and how nobody should insult him, and groaned as silently as possible. His sister was a real idiot. If only she would realize that she was being manipulated.</p><p>Harry didn't believe that would happen any time soon, but oh well, one could still dream.</p><p>Dumbledore also seemed to have enough of Rose's ranting, as his smile become a bit strained.</p><p>"My dear girl, I am happy that you are protecting me, but you don't have to do this. People will always talk, you do not need to always respond." He smiled at the girl after his 'wise' words, and the girl finally dropped it, happily sitting down.</p><p>She then turned to her side and starting talking to Ronald, probably about Dumbledore's supposed greatness, and Dumbledore also sat down, a satisfied smile on his face.</p><p>He was obviously proud of manipulating her. Harry wouldn't admit it, but he was also grateful to the old man for shutting the girl up, even if he was the reason she was talking in the first place.</p><p>The green-eyed boy turned his gaze back to the table, where his friends were still staring at the redhead, and smiled sweetly.</p><p>"Well, at least that's over."</p><p>He got booming laughter as a response.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Mugglified Samhain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was October 31st, and Harry was sitting at the Ravenclaw table, pointedly not eating any turkey or drinking pumpkin juice, elegant features hiding the disgust he felt inside for such a Muggle celebration.</p><p>He understood welcoming Muggles into the Wizarding World, but instead of teaching Wizards Muggle traditions, teaching the Muggleborn and Muggle-raised the traditions of the Wizarding World made much more sense.</p><p>After all, this was a Magical school, a school where magical subjects were taught.</p><p>Magical History was one of them, although Binns insisted on drilling about Goblin Wars and nothing actually necessary.</p><p>Binns had to go, and Harry would make sure of that.</p><p>During the school year until Samhain, nothing interesting had happened, well, nothing interesting for Harry.</p><p>Just like in his previous world, Rose, his so-called counterpart became the youngest Seeker in a century and led Gryffindor into a close victory against Slytherin on her first match.</p><p>Harry would be lying to say she wasn't skilled, but it would be an overestimation to call her a genius.</p><p>A prodigy, maybe, but she had been taught since young, so she was already experienced.</p><p>It wouldn't be egotistical for him to say that his first go at Quidditch had been much better, albeit ending with him nearly swallowing the Golden Snitch.</p><p>That didn't mean she was good, though. Spotting the Snitch within a half-hour was still something to be proud of.</p><p>Not something to brag for days about, though. The green-eyed boy was quite sick of her arrogant tone as she acted out her victory the fiftieth time.</p><p>Just as he remembered, halfway throughout the feast, the doors slammed open, Quirrell rushing in and yelling about a troll in the dungeon, then passing out.</p><p>Harry was quite impressed by the level of his acting, albeit fainting and falling forward was a bit too much.</p><p>As the Hall erupted into chaos and Dumbledore ordered for the perfect to take the students into their common rooms, Harry couldn't help but scoff.</p><p>Both Hufflepuff and Slytherin common rooms were located in the dungeons.</p><p>And he told that so, with a Sonorus spell so that it could be heard, causing the students to quiet down.</p><p>Dumbledore shook his head as if disappointed.</p><p>"There are secret passageways the staff have access to that are safe," he said as if it was obvious.</p><p>Harry couldn't hold his face from distorting into an annoyed expression.</p><p>Right. And the perfects were aware of those passageways. Also, he had just called all of the Professors to search for the troll.</p><p>What a load of bullshit.</p><p>In the end, the Houses were escorted by their Heads, and the remaining staff went looking for the troll.</p><p>It would later be found out that Rose Potter and Ron Weasley had managed to knock the troll out with its club in the second-floor girls' bathroom while saving Hermione Granger, who had been crying there since morning due to being insulted by the pair during their Charms class.</p><p>But the tale would be told the next day, and for the rest of the night, Harry would be found missing, that is if he was actually searched for.</p><p>And since nobody had searched for him, seeing as he was present when they arrived to the Ravenclaw common room, neither would anybody notice that every single of his roommates were Confounded for the rest of the night.</p><p>{}</p><p>After the whole mess with the troll was over, Harry snuck out and went straight to the seventh-floor corridor where the Room of Requirement was located, and entered the room, willing for 'a room nobody else can enter '.</p><p>He had brought the necessary equipment for a Samhain ritual and followed the instructions from an ancient book he had found in the Restricted Section of the library, after sneaking in at night around a week ago.</p><p>He had never done any rituals before due to being accompanied by his so-called friends, who were strictly against anything less-than Light.</p><p>They ignored the fact that this ritual was a gift for the Magicals by Magic herself, and that it greatly cleansed and boosted one's magic and soul once done.</p><p>This ritual was specifically made to connect with one's ancestors, at the night where the Veil between Life and Death was at its thinnest, and gain peace by honouring them.</p><p>The only reason the Light was against it was because it was classified as 'Ritual Magic', which the Ministry considered Dark, therefore forbidden and illegal.</p><p>Truthfully, without rituals on days like Samhain and Yule, magic weakened, having been used to its brim and not renewed, and more Squibs appeared each generation.</p><p>The Light ignored that fact, acting like Dark magic was the worst that could happen to the Magical Community.</p><p>In the end, magic was only Dark or Light due to their intent.</p><p>Curses with long term damage or high fatality rate were considered Dark, but that as irrational due to a simple Diffindo being just as effective to kill someone.</p><p>Yes, Dark and Light magic existed, but the only difference between them was that Light magic focused more on willpower and Dark magic on strong emotions.</p><p>It was why Dark magic was easier to get addicted to, but if one had strong enough willpower, they could easily conquer the addictive feeling and cast Dark spells like a simple Wingardium Leviosa.</p><p>Harry was snapped out of his thoughts by the feeling of his soul separating from his body, and warmth touching his body, flashes of memories filling his head.</p><p>He instinctively understood that he was experiencing his ancestors' lives, and although he understood very little from the flashes, the warmth they gave behind we're like welcoming hugs, making him smile in pure happiness.</p><p>He hadn't felt such warmth before, and the feeling of such strong familial love was enough to make him relax, and even leak tears of joy at the feeling of being cared for.</p><p>When he opened his eyes hours later, he felt entirely renewed, both in magic and soul.</p><p>As he stood up and left the room, the embrace of his family never left him, and the warmth stayed for the whole night, even while he slept.</p><p>When he woke up, the feeling was gone, but the memories remained. The small but genuine smile on his face was thankfully not seen by anyone, and Harry wished that Samhain would happen again soon.</p><p>He couldn't wait to feel that warmth again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Thievery</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Harry sat up, groggily rubbing his eyes as he yawned. Today was an important day, and he needed to be ready for it, so he had awoken much earlier than usual.</p><p>A quick Tempus revealed the time to be 04:33, and Harry immediately got up, getting ready for the day.</p><p>Today was the day he would be stealing the Philosopher's Stone.</p><p>He got dressed by a flick of his wrist, and he was properly awoken with a soft Aguamenti to the face.</p><p>He walked downstairs, careful not to make any noise, and exited the common room, Invisibily Cloak draped on his body,heading straight to the forbidden corridor.</p><p>No, he had not allowed the Cloak to be given to Rose, even if his father had decided to.</p><p>The Cloak was his by birthright and because he was the Master of Death.</p><p>Also, no way he would allow his idiot sister to gain such a valuable artefact.</p><p>After singing a lullaby so Fluffy fell asleep, he went through the obstacles one by one, careful not to leave any traces of himself while also disturbing the course as little as possible.</p><p>He finally went through the Potions obstacle and reached the Mirror of Erised.</p><p>Harry felt a sense of nostalgia as he looked at the mirror, the words carved above making him chuckle softly.</p><p>It was such a simple puzzle, really.</p><p>Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi</p><p>I show not your face but your heart's desire.</p><p>Seriously, in his previous life, was Dumbledore so stupid to assume that he couldn't realise something so simple?</p><p>All he had to do was read it backwards!</p><p>As he stepped forward, the mirror fogged slightly, images forming within.</p><p>He saw himself, his mother and his two uncles, all smiling happily, while spiritual mists floated behind them.</p><p>Harry knew they represented his ancestors he had met during the Samhain ritual, and smiled softly.</p><p>All he had ever wanted was a family, and now he had one, albeit a bit cracked and broken.</p><p>The image morphed as he thought that, and his reflection winked at him, patting his pocket, a familiar weight appearing in his own as he did so.</p><p>He took out the stone, and pushed some magic into his eyes, activating his Mage Sight.</p><p>Mage Sight was a skill so rare only a few in history was known to have it. It was the ability to see magic, and many desired to also have the skill.</p><p>Harry had gained it after becoming the Master of Death, at age seventeen.</p><p>Since then, he had favoured the skill, but also hidden it, not wanting anyone to try to take advantage of him.</p><p>With his Mage Sight active, Harry could see the magic surrounding the Stone, and scoffed.</p><p>Was Dumbledore an idiot?</p><p>This was the real stone!</p><p>Harry had assumed that the stone was a fake and the real one was kept under a Fidelius somewhere, but it seemed that wasn't correct.</p><p>It seemed Dumbledore had too much faith in his defences, and the fact that nobody would dare to cross the obstacles but the 'Golden Trio' and himself.</p><p>Seriously, this was such a stupid mistake.</p><p>The charms in the mirror allowed only 'the person who doesn't want to use the stone' to take the stone.</p><p>Harry wanted the stone so that he could give it back to the Flamels.</p><p>The 600-year-old pair were quite beneficial allies to have, and Harry was sure that after they heard of the old goat's stupid mistake, they wouldn't trust him again, apprentice or not.</p><p>He started at the stone for a few seconds more before he stuffed it into his charmed pocket, which had a security charm that only opened with his blood, magic, and Parseltongue password together, along with a charm that made it a two-cubic-meter locket dimension, much like his trunk, although his trunk has several compartments with organized smaller compartments so that he could store his belongings tidily.</p><p>If Moody had said one thing right, it was constant vigilance.</p><p>And needless to say, after his previous life, Harry was very paranoid, possibly on par with the ex-Auror.</p><p>The boy, now finished with his task, headed out of the room and put everything back to place, not a single detail having changed.</p><p>After all, Dumbledore could be perspective about the stupidest of things, and he didn't want his scheme to be noticed too early.</p><p>He got back out the trapdoor, gave Fluffy a nice back scratch, and walked back to the common room, Invisibility Cloak on his shoulders.</p><p>Had arrived back to the common room at 05:02, and dropped himself on his favourite couch, taking a book from the Ravenclaw library as he did so.</p><p>It was about the castle's defences, and he joyfully started reading it, satisfied with his thievery.</p><p>Hours later, when his roommates came down, he could still be seen smiling while humming a cheery tune.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Against The Sycophants</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was around a week later that the Golden Trio faced Voldemort and 'rescued' the 'stone'.</p>
<p>In reality, Harry had planted a magical bug on his sister while matching its frequency with the girl's, so that it wouldn't be noticed by the genius Dark Lord.</p>
<p>Since they were twins, it hadn't taken much work, only a few tweaks and it was the same as the girl's rust-coloured magic.</p>
<p>Harry's own magic was a brilliant green, but to the eyes of those without Mage Sight, it could only be seen as completely grey.</p>
<p>Harry was a neutral mage. He used both Light and Dark magic but was unaffected by their consequences.</p>
<p>Adding the fact that he was the Master of Death, his magic could only be grey.</p>
<p>Because Death could only be grey.</p>
<p>Harry's eyes slid onto Dumbledore as the man gave a speech about Slytherin winning. Then, of course, the 'but' came.</p>
<p>"Yes, yes, well done Slytherin. But we have some last-minute points to add."</p>
<p>The Hall quietened down, and Harry sighed.</p>
<p>"Giving points <em>after</em> no more points can be given? That's assuring the ones he favours win, isn't it?"</p>
<p>A few murmurs of agreement could be heard from his sides but as Dumbledore opened his mouth again, they were silenced.</p>
<p>He made excuses to give Granger and Weasley 50 points each, then 60 points to Rose, and finally, 10 points to Neville, securing Gryffindor the winner position.</p>
<p>The Gryffindors roared in happiness, but they were the only ones happy.</p>
<p>All three other Houses looked on at the scene in disgust: it was so obvious that Dumbledore was biased! It was disgusting, the unfairness.</p>
<p>And so, Harry raised his hand, a slight smirk on his lips, and the students slowly silenced by the action.</p>
<p>Dumbledore let out a 'tired' sigh.</p>
<p>"Yes, Harry, my boy?"</p>
<p>Harry raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>"Firstly, Headmaster, I have repeatedly told you that we are not so close that you can call me with such intimacy, and secondly, I would like to ask why you chose to award points to Gryffindor today."</p>
<p>Dumbledore feigned surprise.</p>
<p>"I have just explained why," he said questioning my, and Harry shook his head in poorly concealed disappointment, on purpose, of course.</p>
<p>"Headmaster, the actions to earn these points were taken days ago. I must ask, why did you not award these points earlier? Because of your late point giving, the other Houses do not have a chance to earn more points, and therefore Gryffindor has won unjustly. I am only saying this because you are a fantastic wizard, Headmaster, but it seems you did not think of the consequences of your actions completely." He acted like he was taking a deep breath for courage, and stared directly at the old goat's eyes, Occlumency shields so right even Voldemort wouldn't be able to go through. "Your actions make you look like you are favouring Gryffindor."</p>
<p>The Hall gaped at the bold boy who emotionlessly stared at the Headmaster, who also seemed extremely surprised by the boy's actions.</p>
<p>It had been decades since someone had dared to question him like this, and he could feel his anger rising.</p>
<p>How dare an eleven-year-old child question him? He was <em>Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore</em>, the Saviour of the Wizarding World, the Defeater of Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald, and Lord of the Light Side.</p>
<p>He had three extremely powerful titles, and everyone in the Wizarding World admired him.</p>
<p>How could someone not worth a tenth of him question him?</p>
<p>Instead of stating his thoughts, he created his throat.</p>
<p>"It must have slipped my mind. I assure you, I did not have any intention of favouring any House."</p>
<p>Harry raised an eyebrow challengingly.</p>
<p>"Then I am correct to assume that it would be fine if Slytherin won the House Cup?"</p>
<p>Dumbledore nearly choked on his spit in shock.</p>
<p>"E-excuse me?" He stuttered out unconsciously, and Harry sighed.</p>
<p>"Slytherin had already won the House Cup before you 'remembered' to award Gryffindor points, sir. Coupling with the fact that the school year is over and no more points can be earned, aren't Gryffindor's points considered invalid? That means Slytherin has won."</p>
<p>And with that, the fate of the Cup was sealed.</p>
<p>If Dumbledore refused to let Slytherin win, he would be favouring Gryffindor.</p>
<p>If Dumbledore didn't take back Gryffindor's point, the same thing applied.</p>
<p>Making excuses wouldn't work either.</p>
<p>And so, Dumbledore, the first time after his victory against Grindelwald, yielded to someone.</p>
<p>The Hall was once again decorated in silver and green, and minus Gryffindor, all three Houses clapped, with Slytherin cheering.</p>
<p>Harry sat back down in satisfaction, sliencing his sister at the other table who had just opened her mouth go object, and marvelled at the sight of the House of the Snakes so happy and... childish.</p>
<p>In his previous life, he had never seen them this way, and may had easily forgotten that they were kids as well.</p>
<p>This time, with this scene, everybody would undoubtedly remember.</p>
<p>Harry closed his eyes, a smile on his face, and fell asleep in seconds.</p>
<p>Occlumency was tiring mentally, and he had kept his shields deathly tight during his speech.</p>
<p>He deserved a rest.</p>
<p>He wasn't hungry anyway.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. The Last Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After the Closing Ceremony, all students were sent back to their dorms for their final night at school. Harry chatted with his friends until late and only slept after he was sure all of them were asleep, carrying them to their beds gently with the assistance of his magic, and placing a few temperature charms to make sure they didn't get too hot or cold.</p><p>Although his body was that of a child, he was still an adult after all. And as an adult, it was his responsibility to look after these children.</p><p>As he closed his eyes, he went over his first year at Hogwarts, and his previous life's first year, comparing them.</p><p>Because of Dumbledore, in his previous life, his first year had been unproductive and filled with dangerous tests from Dumbledore, obstructing his education.</p><p>In this life, he had read as many books as he wanted, made many connections, and learned more about magical culture.</p><p>He could clearly say that his current life was much more preferred than the other one.</p><p>Thus, he fell asleep, his memories appearing in his dreams, unknowingly causing a small smile to appear on his face.</p><p>{}</p><p>Harry carried his secretly weightless trunk onto the train, his fellow Ravenclaws surrounding him doing the same, albeit with much more effort.</p><p>After he stepped aboard, he turned around and helped his friends, smiling kindly at their thankful expressions.</p><p>After they were all on, they headed to find a compartment they could stay in.</p><p>Although it wasn't stated clearly, there was an unspoken rule that split the train into Houses. The far back was Slytherin's and the furthermost front was Gryffindor's, with the other two Houses splitting the two up, preventing confrontation between them.</p><p>Everyone knew that Gryffindor and Slytherin had an unhealthy rivalry, a rivalry that had lasted for a thousand years, at least that was the speculated amount of time.</p><p>Not much was left from the Founders other than a few precious artefacts and the Hogwarts castle, after all.</p><p>At least, for those who didn't know of the existence of the Room of Requirement, but that is a story for another time.</p><p>Harry opened the door of an empty compartment and ushered the others in, closing it after them and discreetly adding a few minor wards for privacy.</p><p>It was not much, really, just allowing only those already inside when the ward is placed to exit and enter the place, and having the same effect as a <em>notice-me-not</em> charm, but lasting longer.</p><p>Inside, they talked and played games for the duration of the train ride, as they wouldn't see each other for a few months. Harry was surprised to say he would actually miss them.</p><p>Was this what having real friends felt like? A small flutter in his heart confirmed the statement, and a soft smile took over his face, unnoticed by the others.</p><p>He finally had people he could depend on.</p><p>{}</p><p>The train ride ended hours later, and as they approached Platform 9 3/4, Harry a stood up, waving his wand and lowering everyone's trunks, nodding at their thanks'.</p><p>They got off the train without much hurry, but with enough care to avoid being knocked to the side by excited students rushing around.</p><p>Harry helped them all with carrying their trunks before they exchanged their final goodbyes for a few months, and walked away, face stiffening slightly.</p><p>He was not looking forward to seeing his father gush over his sister again.</p><p>He had had enough of that, especially that misused Howler sent to congratulate Rose's achievement of becoming the youngest Seeker of the century.</p><p>As he looked around to locate his family, he noticed cameras flash and people crowd over at an area, and immediately realised it was where his <em>d</em><em>ear</em> sister was. Sighing and pinching his nose in annoyance, he headed over there, as slow as possible due to his reluctance to see what was happening.</p><p>As expected, when he arrived, his family was covered with reporters, and Rose had on her arrogant smirk that Harry detested, posing for the camera.</p><p>"Miss Potter, how was your first year at Hogwarts?" asked one of them, and Rose turned to the man, her eyes gleaming happily. It seemed she was waiting for such a question.</p><p>"It was quite delightful," she replied, trying and failing to sound mature due to the smirk plastered on her lips. "It was like an amazing adventure, and I loved meeting new people and learning more about the Wizarding World. All in all, I couldn't ask for a better year."</p><p>Another reporter spoke up, and Harry belatedly identified her to be Rita Skeeter, and from the slight smirk on her lips, she was about to say something opposite to Rose's preference.</p><p>"How were your exams? I'm sure, as the Girl-Who-Lived, they were quite easy for you!"</p><p>Rose flinched slightly, but it wasn't noticed by many due to the steady flashing of lights, making the behaviour seem like a play of light.</p><p>"Of course," she answered after straightening herself, her smirk once again slipping on her face, albeit slightly smaller.</p><p>With that, the reporters started screaming about her scores, hoping to learn what it was. After all, she was the Saviour of the Wizarding World, her scores should be unseen before!</p><p>But contrary to their expectations, the girl's scores were left untold, and with that, the reporters were shooed away by a couple of Aurors standing by for safety.</p><p>With the crowd scattering, Harry finally approached the family but was stopped by one of the Aurors.</p><p>"Hey kid, I understand that you want to meet the Girl-Who-Lived, but interview's over. Go back."</p><p>Harry raised an eyebrow at the man. It seemed that even Aurors were unaware of who Heir Potter was.</p><p>Thankfully, without him needing to say anything, Lily spotted him and brightened immediately.</p><p>"Harry!" she exclaimed, rushing over as fast as she could, and hugging him.</p><p>The Auror coughed awkwardly.</p><p>"Lady Potter, you know this boy?" Lily raised her head, and glared at the man with all her might, causing the poor guy to take a step back in fear, thoroughly confused.</p><p>"<em>Do I know this boy</em><em>?</em> This is my son, Harry James Potter! The Heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter!"</p><p>The man paled at the answer, eyes snapping back to the boy whose path he'd blocked. <em>This</em> was Heir Potter? He looked nothing like his twin!</p><p>Harry tapped his mother in the arm for the sake of the Auror.</p><p>"Mother, it's quite alright," he said in a calm voice, making the furious redhead falter and turn to him, eyes softening at his appearance. "Due to Rose's fame, it's understandable for people not to recognise me. I'm not as sociable as she is, after all."</p><p>The woman sighed, but nodded, making the tense Auror let out a deep breath in relief.</p><p>"I know, but it's still irritating to see for one of my children to be favoured over the other," she replied, a small pout on her face.</p><p>Harry chuckled lightly, hugging her.</p><p>"Don't worry, I'm no pushover. If anyone dares to see me inferior, I'll make sure they'll never mess with me again, alright?" As he said those words, a cold smile, invisible to others due to his position, appeared on his face. This was a vow he would follow no matter what.</p><p>Even those oblivious to his expression could feel the atmosphere turn cold, and the two adults who heard him shivered at his determined words.</p><p>One thing was for sure: Harry meant every single word he said.</p><p>The Auror scrambled away, still pale, and Lily, noticing him running away, smirked slightly in amusement.</p><p>"That's my son."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Exam Results</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>My absolute gratitude to Diana for translating this story to Russian.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>The story link is https://ficbook.net/readfic/10061044</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Hope those of you who know Russian enjoy it!</strong>
</p><p>After greeting his mother properly and once again being squished into a hug, Harry was approached by his uncles who did the same.</p><p>Sirius kept asking him if he ranked anyone while Remus asked about his exams. In the end, he managed to escape from their grasp and brushed himself off, straightening his clothes and hair with a mock glare, causing the two to chuckle.</p><p>"Yes, I <em>did</em> prank people, no I'm <em>not</em> going to tell you who or when, and my exam scores are in my bag," he answered, then reached into his rucksack hanging from his shoulder, and opened it, inspecting the inside and taking out a piece of parchment.</p><p>He scanned it, then reached it out, and the three adults grabbed it excitedly.</p><p>The parchment's contents were surprising, to say the least, and all three were left gaping.</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>Name: Harry James Potter<br/>House: Ravenclaw<br/>Year: 1</p><p>Scores:</p><p>Transfiguration: O+<br/>Charms: O+<br/>Defence Against the Dark Arts: O+<br/>Potions: O+<br/>Herbology: O<br/>Astronomy: O+<br/>History of Magic: O<br/>Flying: O+</p><p>Ranking:</p><p>Ravenclaw: 1/10<br/>Overall: 1/40</p><p>It is to be noted that Mr Potter's scores have been recognised as the highest ever recorded and will be entered into Ministry records.</p><p>Minerva McGonagall<br/>Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>The three adults raised their heads and gawked at Harry, lips moving but no words coming out.</p><p>After several minutes, Lily finally managed to make a sound.</p><p>"H-harry..." she said, voice shaky and eyes glassy. "This is amazing!"</p><p>She then threw herself at the boy, sobbing while hugging him, tears running down her face.</p><p>Both Sirius and Remus were still dumbfounded, but the movement broke their paralysis and they also rushed over, congratulating him while patting his back, large identical grins on their faces.</p><p>"I'm proud of you, Pup," Sirius said, his toothy smile seeming extremely dog-like, and ruffled Harry's hair, accumulating an irked whine from the boy.</p><p>Harry pouted, his eyes sparkling mischievously, and suddenly leapt on his back, making him stumble and struggle to gain balance, and the jewel-eyed boy laughed at his struggle, his voice clear and pure, startling the adults.</p><p>Harry had never laughed so genuinely before. Sirius managed to snap out of his trance, and turned into his Animagus form, earning an alarmed shriek from the boy on top of him, and started running around.</p><p>Lily smiled at the two, a smile as sad as it was happy. Harry was finally opening up to them.</p><p>After the defeat of Voldemort, Sirius and James had registered to the Ministry as Animagi, and because of the war, they hadn't been punished heavily, being let off with a fine that they had both easily paid thanks to their families' massive treasuries.</p><p>In fact, the fine hadn't even put a dent on either of their assets. That was how much money they had.</p><p>Because if an average Wizard was fined that much money, it would be equal to around half a decade of salary, and that was saying something.</p><p>The family was having fun when they were approached by their two additions, and the mood immediately turned sour.</p><p>"Stop acting so childish! You're tarnishing the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter's reputation!"</p><p>Harry raised his head, and seeing his father and sister, sighed, leaping off of Sirius, the man turning back into human as he did so.</p><p>Sirius dusted himself off, then pouted at the man.</p><p>"Come on, James, you can be more lenient! He's only eleven. Cut him some slack, we were the same at his age!"</p><p>James fumed, but not wanting to oppose Sirius, didn't respond, instead turning to Rose and ruffling her hair.</p><p>"Well, at least Rose is mature." His eyes then lit, and he crouched down. "Oh, didn't you say your exams went good? Come on, show me your scores!"</p><p>Rose froze and started glancing around in panic. Harry couldn't help but snicker into his palm, an act not unnoticed by the two.</p><p>Rose exploded into red and rushed towards him.</p><p>"You!" she cried out, pointing an accusing finger at him. "What are you laughing at? You think you're so funny? I can assure you, I did better than you at least!" She then spat on the ground before him. "<em>Filth</em>."</p><p>Lily's face morphed into anger, and she furiously walked to the two.</p><p>"Rose! How dare you call your brother that! Apologize, now!"</p><p>Rose humphed, turning her head to the side stubbornly, and Lily seemed to once again say something before Harry broke in.</p><p>"I'd like to see your score, then, if you're so sure."</p><p>And with that, Rose once again froze, panic rising to her face.</p><p>James, unaware of his daughter's thoughts, nodded.</p><p>"That's fair," he said. Rose turned her father, but she was too late. "<em>Accio</em><em> Rose's results</em>."</p><p>A parchment looking identical to Harry's flew to his hand from Rose's trunk, and the man opened it.</p><p>His face morphed into horror as he did so, and he looked from the girl to the paper repeatedly, disbelief plastered on his face.</p><p>"Rose... What?" In his shock, he let go of the parchment, and it floated to the ground, face upwards, the scores visible for everyone to see.</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>Name: Rose Potter<br/>House: Gryffindor<br/>Year: 1</p><p>Scores:</p><p>Transfiguration: EE<br/>Charms: A<br/>Defence Against the Dark Arts: EE<br/>Potions: T<br/>Herbology: D<br/>Astronomy: P<br/>History of Magic: T<br/>Flying: O+</p><p>Ranking:</p><p>Gryffindor: 7/10<br/>Overall: 31/40</p><p>Miss Potter is required to be tested at the start of her next year for her failed classes and will be held down a grade unless she scores an 'Acceptable' for each and every one of them.</p><p>Minerva McGonagall<br/>Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry</p><p>_______________________________________</p><p>Lily covered her mouth in shock, while Sirius and Remus just stared at the girl. Even the Marauders hadn't ever scored that bad, and they hadn't studied at all for their first three years!</p><p>Harry turned to her sister with a sigh.</p><p>"Are you absolutely sure you have outscored me, Rose?" he asked, and the mentioned girl turned bright red, a deep scowl etched on her face.</p><p>Even through all the embarrassment, she nodded her head, pride taking over any rationality she had left.</p><p>"Yes!" she insisted stubbornly.</p><p>Harry sighed in disappointment. To think this pig-headed idiot was actually related to him.</p><p>Gently taking his results from his mother's hands, he handed the parchment over to the girl, who snatched it in annoyance.</p><p>She froze entirely when she scanned the contents, taking a step backwards in horror.</p><p>"No! This isn't possible!" she cried out, although it came out more like a whisper.</p><p>Harry smiled sadly at the pitiful being in front of him.</p><p>"Sister... It <em>is</em> possible. Why? One word: studying."</p><p>And Rose Potter's world came crashing down around her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. The Revival of James Potter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Needless to say, three days after they had arrived at the Potter mansion, Rose was forced into private tutoring. James and Lily were extremely disappointed in the girl.</p><p>Even if James had told the girl to have fun before they arrived at Hogwarts, he hadn't meant that her grades weren't important.</p><p>Especially after the talk he and Lily had had, he had started paying more attention to the girl's academic life and coupled with the mails from the Hogwarts professors answering their questions about Rose in their class, his eyes had been opened, slightly at the very least.</p><p>Also, Harry had checked James for spells and potions, because the man's reaction had been downright strange to Rose's different results.</p><p>He had looked so confused, and his magic had started swirling around dangerously, so Harry had had to sneak a Calming Drought in his drink to prevent a disaster.</p><p>In the end, the results were unsurprising but still horrifying: James was under several compulsions and potions that caused him to act like a daughter-con idiot without any proper decision-making skills.</p><p>And the magical signature of the spells was, of course, Dumbledore.</p><p>Unfortunately, long-term compulsion spells required continuous magic to work, meaning that if he dispelled the spells, Dumbledore would immediacy be notified.</p><p>It sucked, but for now, there was nothing he could do.</p><p>Suddenly, his eyes shone, an idea appearing in his head.</p><p>Or was there?</p><p>{}</p><p>It was after midnight that Harry snuck into his parents' bedroom, several spells preventing him from being discovered spelled on him. He reached his father with a few steps, and stood for a while, watching the man.</p><p>In his sleep, his father looked a lot more peaceful than when he was awake. He wasn't frowning like he always did when he saw Harry, his face was completely relaxed.</p><p>Harry decided that he liked him better this way.</p><p>With newfound determination to turn him sane, he focused on his magic, calling for it, and it swirled out gently like it did all the time while he meditated.</p><p>He directed it out of his body and smiled as he saw the <em>avada</em>-green mist flow out, swaying slightly.</p><p>With a thought, it headed straight towards his father's body and entered it.</p><p>Now came the tricky part: James's magical core and brain were covered by the small magical strings left by Dumbledore's spells, and to detach them, he needed to be extremely careful.</p><p>One wrong move and James could be turned into a Squib or have brain damage.</p><p>It took him two long hours to completely detach the strings, and he slumped down in relief to the ground, sweat running down his temples while he huffed heavily in exhaustion.</p><p>Not counting his last life, this was the first time he was attempting to do this, and James had at least a dozen spells on him, all placed years ago, and having already merged with his body deeply.</p><p>Now, before the strings dispersed, he needed to reattach them to someone else.</p><p>Or in this case, something.</p><p>Without further ado, Harry took out a Flushing Drought and fed it to his father, making sure not to wake him up as he did so. The man tossed and turned a few times, but did not awake.</p><p>The Flushing Drought was a potion that completely got rid of every single potion the drinker was under, just like the flushing of a toilet.</p><p>He then quickly began the delicate job of taking hold of the strings by covering them with his own magic and bending them to attach them to an old notebook he had found.</p><p>If his hold on the strings was too weak, they would escape back to Dumbledore. If it was too strong, the strings would break under the pressure, and once again, dissolve and go back to Dumbledore.</p><p>Either way, it best didn't happen.</p><p>And so Harry concentrated.</p><p>It was nearing sunrise when he finished, sighing and straightening himself. His under eyes were dark from sleeplessness and lack of magic or any type of energy, and he felt sluggish from the amount of concentration he had done continuously for hours.</p><p>He stood up, wobbling slightly, and grabbed the notebook with the spells he had transferred, sneaking out of the bedroom as fast as he could.</p><p>Lily woke up as soon as the soon rose, and that was at most half an hour away.</p><p>He would rather not get caught if she coincidentally woke up early this day.</p><p>{}</p><p>Several hours later, screaming started in the kitchen, waking Harry up. He opened his eyes, groggily rubbing them with his fists, and got up, groaning.</p><p>It seemed his interference had worked.</p><p>Getting dressed with a flick of his wrist that was unnecessary but habitual, he headed to his bathroom, quickly freshening himself up, and walked down the stairs at a pace slow enough to be calm, but fast enough to convey his interest in what was going on.</p><p>In the kitchen, he found his mother, a look of disbelief on her face, and his father, disoriented and confused.</p><p>"What are you talking about? I don't think like that!" he cried out, hands catching his head, eyes filled with horror.</p><p>Lily clasped her arms in front of him, angrily replying:</p><p>"You do! Or else why would you ignore Harry all these years, acting like a sick puppy addicted to Rose, never refusing her wishes? You were a <em>bloody </em>sycophant, a <em>servant</em> for your daughter! How dare you tell me that you don't know what I'm talking about!"</p><p>From the furious glint in her eyes, Harry knew it was time to step up.</p><p>"Mother, maybe something happened. Why don't you perform a medical history check on father, it could reveal a clue."</p><p>After all, the medical history spell didn't reveal non-spells or non-potions affecting the person, and what Harry had done was a technique using one's own magic to manipulate others' magic, so, it was not classified as a 'spell' or a 'potion'.</p><p>Lily turned around, eyes wide. She hadn't even sensed her son come in, and from the last war, her reflexes were still in par with experienced Aurors.</p><p>Maybe she was too consumed by her anger to notice him?</p><p>She thought the suggestion over and nodded. She knew how to perform diagnostic spells, and a medical history test could easily be done with Blood Magic.</p><p>It was illegal for anyone but certified medics, but right now, she could care less about that.</p><p>Several minutes later, the three were standing in front of a parchment filled with the medical history of one James Fleamont Potter, and it was a lot longer than it should have been.</p><p>As James gaped at the compulsions and potions he was under for years, Lily slammed her first onto the kitchen table, tears running down her eyes.</p><p>Her eyes were trained on the repeated name next to the spells, revealing the person who had cast them.</p><p>
  <em>Albus</em>
  <em> Percival </em>
  <em>Wulfric</em>
  <em> Brian </em>
  <em>Dumbledore</em>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p>That old bastard was going to pay.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Rose's POV</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rose hated her brother. He had always been better than her, hogging others' attention. How her family gravitated towards him, eyes always on him, leaving her away in the dark.</p><p>Her parents, uncles, even her friends only ever thought of him as 'perfect'. Perfect features, perfect personality, perfect talent, perfect mind...</p><p>The only inferiority he had was that he wasn't the Chosen One. The <em>bloody</em> Chosen One. Some title she gained by doing something she didn't even remember about as a baby.</p><p>A title apparently more remember than any other qualities she had. She wasn't noted for her social skills, or her talent in flying, just that she had done something nobody was quite sure how so, including Rose herself.</p><p>But that was better than not being liked at all.</p><p>And so Rose embraced that small superiority completely. She hated how Harry was so smart, talented, mature. How he was praised for doing nothing special, but doing it perfectly even if it was something normal, like his pronunciation or his helpful attitude.</p><p>How he was so likeable to others around them, with that plastic smile of his, the calculating eyes under his childish mask.</p><p>Contrary to popular belief, Rose wasn't a complete Gryffindor. She could easily see through the masks people put on, so she had a sufficient judge of character.</p><p>Also, from a young age, she had realised that her parents reacted better to certain behaviour, and worse to others. Following her assessment, she quickly became better liked and gained more recognition.</p><p>Manipulation came easy to her. Subtle probing, false innocence, and she held her parents' attention almost completely. After that, she loosened up, mask cracking and her inferiority complex turning apparent.</p><p>Then, years later, Harry salvaged most of the attention. It came as a shock, hitting her hard.</p><p>How had he accomplished it? It had taken her years of manipulation to succeed in what had only taken him a mere ten minutes!</p><p>Rose didn't want to accept it: Harry couldn't be better than her in <em>even</em> this! Why was he so gifted, and herself so unlucky?</p><p>At least her father was still on her side.</p><p>{}</p><p>Rose woke up to loud voices and groaned in annoyance. Couldn't they keep it down? After so little sleep at Hogwarts due to her bitch of roommates gossiping all night long and the need to gain information from them for the future, she deserved a bit of sleep, okay?</p><p>The chatter continued for a while, and Rose finally resigned with a sigh and got up, getting ready for the day.</p><p>Choosing her comfortable indigo dress, she slipped on her slippers and opened the door, heading downstairs.</p><p>There, the voices led her to the kitchen, and she was dumbfounded by the scene in front of her:</p><p>Her father, chatting happily with her mother and brother, like they were a complete family, even without her.</p><p>Her chest throbbed in discomfort but she ignored it, walking inside with a scowl on her face.</p><p>"Could you <em>not</em> keep it down? You're so loud I woke up early!"</p><p>She expected her father to defend him as he did always, a sickening gesture but still enough to ruffle her feathers, but instead got a disappointed look, freezing her where she stood, thoughts running wild.</p><p>What had happened? Why was he behaving differently?</p><p>As her mind raced, his father spoke up, tone a complete reversal than his usual gushing, face stern.</p><p>"You cannot talk to your parents like that, Rose."</p><p>Her eyes widened in disbelief. So she <em>wasn't</em> imagining things.</p><p>She whirled around, facing Harry, and saw the amused glint in his eyes, and then, she snapped.</p><p>"You bastard!" she cried out, eyes glistening with unshed tears, anger reddening her face. "Even this? You-you!" She burst into tears, a choked sob escaping her throat, and turned around on the soles of her feet, running out.</p><p>Thet bastard has finally seized had entire family from her! First their mother, then their uncles, ultimately, their father.</p><p>It was like she was six again, watching from the corner of the room as her family gushed over her brother making another achievement, while she was cast aside into the shadows.</p><p>Rose ran until she reached the secret hideout she had made and expanded over the years, located on a tall tree with numerous branches in the far corner If the courtyard.</p><p>Climbing up hastily but easily, she reached a small treehouse, pulling herself onto its floor and sitting down with a sigh, gaze drifting around.</p><p>The treehouse was a small place made from wood, with a small roof covered with rain-repelling charms cast by her uncle Remus, the only one aware of the place, alongside several charms to ensure her comfort, including heat controlling charms.</p><p>Inside the small sanctuary were a quilt, a makeshift table, and several shelves to store her belongings, which mostly consisted of books.</p><p>Unlike what most thought, Rose <em>did</em> enjoy reading, just not about the Hogwarts curriculum. She liked learning about handy lifestyle magic and a few harmless spells she found interesting.</p><p>And specifically, books about human psychology.</p><p>Because how could she manipulate people if she didn't know how their minds worked?</p><p>Rose picked up a notebook from the table, skimming through it to take her mind off her familial situation. She had just started scanning her entry from several years ago when she heard the leaves rustle from the side, and snapped around, wand in hand, the magical stick digging into the surprisingly firm chest of her twin brother, the cause of her bad mood.</p><p>The boy chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender, lips quirked into an infuriating grin filled with amusement, causing Rose to feel even more cranky.</p><p>Lowering her wand, she glared at the existence causing her negativity, a scowl appearing on her face.</p><p>"How did you find this place?" she spat out, distantly realising how childishly possessive she sounded, but ignoring it, irritation taking over her rationality.</p><p>Instead of replying, the boy sat down, getting comfortable, causing Rose's scowl to deepen.</p><p>"Sod off," she growled, snapping around to ignore this infuriating person in favour of calming herself, turning over a page and starting to read.</p><p>It seemed the boy respected her decision, as for half an hour, neither spoke, Rose reading and pointedly ignoring her twin, while Harry just sat, watching her diligently.</p><p>Finally, Rose snapped, teeth gritted, from the eyes on her, and spun around, facing the boy, who straightened at her actions seemingly unconsciously.</p><p>"Alright, what do you want?" she ground out, glare intensifying as the boy tilted his head to the side in contemplation.</p><p>"You aren't as boring as I thought, huh?" Rose blinked in astonishment of his bluntness, then scowled with all her might, book snapping shut, and wand arm ready to hex the boy insulting her without a care.</p><p>"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked, voice louder than she had planned, but the boy only reacted by smiling at her, amusement glinting in his eyes, infuriating the girl further, although she restrained herself not to sock him in the nose.</p><p>"It means that I've underestimated you." Suddenly, the boy was behind her, and her neck snapped around, eyes widening in surprise, because <em>what the fuck, had he, an eleven-year-old, just apparated?</em></p><p>"You-how?" she managed to get out from her gaping mouth, and the laugh from the other didn't help her struggle either.</p><p>Harry waved her off, a mysterious smile on his face.</p><p>"Doing worry your precious self with this," he said instead of explaining, then leaned down and grabbed a book from her table, smile widening at the title.</p><p>"Books on psychology, huh? Is this the secret to your manipulative skills?" His question was clearly rhetorical as he skimmed through the book he held. "You really aren't as stupid as you look."</p><p>Fed up with his deliberate insults, and deciding to ignore his too-advanced magical skills, she stood up, whipping her wand out, eyes flickering with anger.</p><p>"Stop disrespecting me!"</p><p>Harry only quirked an eyebrow at her action, and a second later, her hand was empty, the nimble fingers of the boy caressing her wand, eyes gleaming with interest.</p><p>"I remember... Applewood, with a dragon heartstring core and a length of 11 inches... How fitting.</p><p>"Those with applewood wands have high aims and ideals, and the wood mixes poorly with Dark Magic. It describes you quite well, doesn't it, oh Saviour of the Light?"</p><p>Rose ground her teeth, ignoring his nudge at her title, and reached out her hand, palm facing upwards. She wouldn't give in to anger this time, unlike all the times throughout their for now sole Hogwarts year.</p><p>"My wand." she requested in fury, which the boy complied to carefreely, and the girl snatched it, stuffing it into her wand holster to prevent further thievery.</p><p>Harry smiled in faux innocence at his sister, squinted eyes glinting dangerously, causing her to shudder unconsciously.</p><p>"How impatient, dear sister," he commented, and while the words alone were harmless, the aura of the boy was anything but so.</p><p>Rose took a step backwards, body taking a defensive stance, and Harry blinked, apparently only discovering how deadly he felt presently, and the heavy atmosphere suddenly vanished as if it didn't exist in the first place, a bright beam of a smile with an innocently excited air taking its place.</p><p>He leaned forward, face only an arm's length from his sister's, and they finally made eye contact, horror-stricken chocolate born clashing with playful bright green, and in her entire life, Rose had never felt so much fear before.</p><p>"Now, how about we have a chat?"</p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. A Talk Between Twins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rose raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowing defensively.</p><p>"A chat? What for?" Harry chuckled in response.</p><p>"For the sake of repairing our relationship, of course. We are family, aren't we?"</p><p>The word 'family' made Rose remember the scene from before, in the kitchen, and she scowled, turning her head to the side with an angry huff.</p><p>"I don't want to have any relationship with you." Suddenly, a hand grabbed a hold of her chin, and tilted it to the side, neither gentle nor rough, but enough for her to feel uncomfortable.</p><p>Before she could swat it away, she came face to face with her brother, and her breath caught up in her throat, unable to express her discomfort.</p><p>She had never looked at him so closely before. For her, she had been an insignificant pebble at the side of the road draped in a red carpet for her to walk on, a person she didn't care for the slightest.</p><p>But now, meeting his eyes, those green eyes so mesmerising she couldn't look away, she realised that she had been wrong.</p><p>This person before her wasn't unimportant at all.</p><p>The emotion in Harry's eyes wasn't recognisable to her, but she still couldn't avert her gaze: they were filled with an aura that wanted her to see more, pull apart and try to comprehend.</p><p>She was shaken out of her thoughts by a hand waving in front of her face, and blinked, coming back to reality.</p><p>Harry was looking at her, one hand still in the air from waving for attention just a moment ago, eyes gleaming with amusement.</p><p>"Trapped, weren't you?" he asked, and the slight upwards motion of the corner of his lips showed just how amused he was, even more so coupled with his teasing eyes. "I've been told my eyes have such an effect."</p><p>Rose felt her body from the neck up heat up and turned her head to the side in a rush to hide her embarrassment, failing to do so if her brother's soft laughter was to be taken account.</p><p>What was she thinking? He was mesmerising at all, he was just her brother, the average boy with no trait of importance.</p><p>She bit her lip in annoyance, face reddening more, thoughts running wild.</p><p>How dare he make fun of her? Who had given him the right to do so?</p><p>She was about to voice her thoughts but Harry got to it first, clearing his throat to gain her attention.</p><p>"I wanted to talk to you about your attitude." Rose's head snapped to his direction, face showing clear irritation, arms crossing defensively.</p><p>"My attitude? There's nothing wrong with it," she said stubbornly, and Harry inhaled in exasperation, closing his eyes and rubbing his nose.</p><p>It was around a minute later that he opened them, and he still looked just as worn out as he did a minute before.</p><p>"Do you actually believe that, or is that your pride speaking?" he asked, disbelief mixing into his voice.</p><p>Rose raised her chin in opposition, chest puffed up, trying to create an aura of superiority. It was an old trick in the book, looking taller and covering up more space to intimidate.</p><p>Sadly, it didn't work at all, and she exhaled forcefully, face lowering and hands entering her hair only to ruffle it harshly.</p><p>"What the hell do you want me to say? That I know I have a shitty personality, but I don't make an effort to change it even if I'm aware of it?" she asked rhetorically, and when she raised her head again, Harry's eyes met with Rose's stubborn ones, causing him to sigh.</p><p>"Why don't you?" he asked, leaning forward. "Why not make an effort to improve yourself if you are aware of your faults?"</p><p>Rose reeled back as if she was being pushed by an invisible force, eyes filled with disbelief.</p><p>"Are you an idiot, or are you just naive?" she asked incredulously, shaking her head as if to shake off Harry's suggestion. "Things aren't that simple, you know? People don't change so easily."</p><p>Harry leaned back thoughtfully.</p><p>"Why not? What's keeping you from trying?" he asked and the pure curiosity in his eyes made Rose flinch. Was he <em>actually</em> asking that?</p><p>"You-" she sighed, dropping her head onto her hands. "Do you know what people would think if I suddenly started acting differently? That I am a two-faced bastard, and that I'm not the perfect Light Saviour they envisioned me to be!"</p><p>Harry tilted his head to the side.</p><p>"Why do people's opinions influence how you choose to behave?"</p><p>Rose raised her head from her hands and stared at him pointedly for a few minutes, before standing up, face scrunched up in exasperation.</p><p>"Because I'm a public figure, you idiotic piece of shit!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, stopping caring about being found by her parents.</p><p>Harry was apathetic to her raging emotions, as he raised a single eyebrow in boredom.</p><p>"Are you saying that your current personality is much more desired by the public that a kinder one?"</p><p>And Rose froze. She opened her mouth, but no words came out, mind turning blank.</p><p>He was right. She had a bad personality, yet she was quite well-liked by the public. Did that mean the public <em>wanted</em> her to act like a bitch?</p><p>Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice her brother standing up, and getting closer, until he put his hand on her shoulder, startling her out of her contemplation.</p><p>"Look, I don't care about your personality: I only want us to be a proper family. I know you don't like me, and I don't like you either, but for our parents' sake, please don't act like a pampered greedy little shit in front of them, alright? I don't care if you hate me, I don't even care why, but as long as you don't act out, I'm fine with it."</p><p>Rose took a step back, shrugging off the hand on her shoulder with a glare.</p><p>"And why should I comply?" she asked suspiciously, body tensed up, ready to retaliate in case of an attack, and instinct drilled into her after sparring with her father for a year.</p><p>Harry smiled his usual plastic smile, causing Rose to feel sick in the inside. Her face must have shown her disgust, as the boy's smile turned into a slight smirk, causing her to scowl in response to his amusement.</p><p>"What are you smirking at, you bastard?" she lashed out in anger, first clenching in an urge to punch the boy in front of her in the nose, but before she could do so, Harry spoke up, the one-sentence making her freeze up.</p><p>"Because that's what we both want the most, isn't it? A family."</p><p>After that, he softly grabbed her hand and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles, making her shiver as his lips came in contact with her skin.</p><p>Harry stood up straight and winked at the gaping girl.</p><p>"So, we are in agreement, correct?"</p><p>The shell shocked girl nodded, unable to make out words, and the boy smiled with a pleased expression, eyes crinkling slightly at the edges, showing him older than his actual age.</p><p>"Great. Then I hope we have a successful cooperation from now on."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Diagon Alley Shenanigans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After their agreement, Rose went back to the house and apologised to Lily and James, shocking them, but also causing them to feel delighted.</p><p>Had she finally seen the mistakes she had made?</p><p>In fact, that was not correct, and as Lily hugged her emotionally, Rose glared at her brother, who smirked back at her smugly.</p><p>Who said Harry would help her escape their mother's suffocating hug? She was worse than Molly Weasley at times like this! Why should he sacrifice himself for her?</p><p>Needless to say, the air at home became much lighter. Both the adults seemed much happier now that they got along (better), entirely unaware that this illusion was crafted by their children.</p><p>The family had gotten closer, well, except for the twins, but the parents ignored the tension between them.</p><p>It was normal for twins to have competitive spirits.</p><p>But their problem was not that at all.</p><p>Harry and Rose still felt disgusted at the sight of each other.</p><p>Harry remembered all the shit Rose had done to him, and Rose remembered her inferiority complex, so they mostly didn't stay in areas they could see each other; Rose mostly in the Quidditch pitch, and Harry in the library.</p><p>In front of their parents, though, they acted nicer, still not conversing with each other, but not shooting insults or arguing at least.</p><p>{}</p><p>Time passed and came a day in the middle of summer when the Potters decided to pay a trip to Diagon Alley.</p><p>The twins had gotten taller, and even with their clothes charmed to adjust to their size, they needed more clothes. Especially since Rose was having a growth spurt and the charms adjusted the size too hastily, damaging them.</p><p>So, at ten in the morning, meaning Rose was woken up forcefully and was now grumpy, they took the Floo and arrived at Diagon Alley.</p><p>Lily dusted them all off with a few simple spells, and they headed to Twilfitt and Tattings.</p><p>Although both Madam Malkin's and Twilfitt and Tattings sold robes, in actuality, the latter had much more high-quality robes. Madam Malkin's was sponsored by Hogwarts, and the prices were cheaper, although their materials were too, so it was used more by Muggleborns and poorer families, causing it to be more well-known within their ranks.</p><p>Harry hadn't been told this in his previous life, only after he had become the Head of the Potter House did he realise it, a shame, really.</p><p>All those years of wearing poor quality clothes that were uncomfortable unless he cast a dozen charms could have been avoided if the people around him had informed him of this.</p><p>But of course, his 'best friends' <em>had</em> been a Muggleborn and a poor Pureblood, so this was expected.</p><p>As the Potters walked through the Alley, whispers erupted, fingers pointing at them. All eyes were on them, the famous family that contained the Saviour of the Wizarding World, and one of the biggest leaders of Light.</p><p>Reporters appeared, flashes and questions flying around, and Harry couldn't help but berate his parents: couldn't they be more inconspicuous?</p><p>All four Potters were used to the attention, Harry more so with his last life, and they quickly pulled on their social masks, kind expressions with slight smiles.</p><p>It was creepy how fast their expressions had changed, but Harry wasn't going to judge, being quite the actor himself, charming teachers since kindergarten to protect him against Dudley and his goons.</p><p>It hadn't made much effect in the end, but at least under teacher supervision, the bullies didn't act out, which was better than nothing.</p><p>Back to the present, Harry's parents and sister stopped and decided to answer a few questions. After all, they were public figures, this was their responsibility.</p><p>As cameras flashed, Harry made himself as invisible as possible, practically disappearing behind his mother.</p><p>He listened to the questions and answers, filing the information away for the future.</p><p>After a while, one of the reporters managed to catch his figure, and her eyes brightened, making Harry curse internally, knowing he was found.</p><p>"Oh, is that Heir Potter over there?" she cried out, and suddenly all eyes were on him.</p><p>Lily shared a worried glance with James. Harry had never interacted with reporters before, so there was a high possibility that he would be flustered, and the vultures would hit him while he was down, criticising his every move.</p><p>Contrary to their expectations, Harry smiled politely, his usual smile on his face, albeit a bit more realistic (the plasticity was only to annoy Rose, which was unnecessary in this situation), and took a step forward.</p><p>His posture was perfect, moves elegant, news d his eyes glinted intelligently, making his regal aura shine even brighter, surprising the reporters.</p><p>Who knew Heir Potter was such a perfect Pureblood Heir, despite being a Halfblood in a Light House?</p><p>Harry bowed slightly, enough to greet them, but showing his blatant superiority according to his rank, and replied to the reporter who had called him out.</p><p>"What a pleasure, to be recognised in this crowd," he said calmly, voice a stunning tune to the ears, and the vultures were stunned: even the most mature of twelve-year-olds were still children, but the boy in front of them acted like a full-fledged adult!</p><p>What a jewel they had found!</p><p>Several of them gained a greedy glint in their eyes, and one of them raised his hand, to ask a question.</p><p>His eyes held a malicious glint, clearly aiming to mess with him for attention, and Harry, clearly aware of his intentions but confident not to make the slightest mistake, called upon him by nodding to the man.</p><p>"Yes, Mr-?"</p><p>The man cleared his throat, a proud and slightly irritated expression on his face as if he felt insulted not to be recognised.</p><p>"Houlton, from the Daily Prophet."</p><p>Harry internally nodded. That explained the arrogance. Working for an influential newspaper <em>did</em> have some prestige.</p><p>He smiled apologetically at the man.</p><p>"Of course, Mr Houlton. I apologise for not recognising you. I was quite impressed with your article about the Solstice Wizengamot meeting."</p><p>The man flinched at the information, then his aggressive approach softened, obviously satisfied that his work was liked.</p><p>James shot Harry an amused glance, Lily covering his widening smile with her hand, both well aware of his intentions.</p><p>Rose gave him an appreciative glance. She might not like her brother, but she could appreciate his manipulative skills. When they weren't used against her, at least.</p><p>It had taken her several years to learn how to deal with troublesome reporters like Houlton, who dug up every single dirt on her to stain his reputation for attention.</p><p>Those types were the most problematic ones, the ones that worked hard just to blast people with snide insults.</p><p>The man paused for a bit, then asked his question, having obviously altered it into an easier one after being praised.</p><p>"Heir Potter, I was recently informed of your record-breaking scores. If you could, would you go into detail about them?"</p><p>Whispers erupted, many eyeing him with renewed interest, and Harry felt the corner of his lips curl upwards.</p><p>He closed his eyes and gave a bright, blinding smile that warmed the hearts of the gullible people believing him to be a simple young child.</p><p>"Of course. I was told that I have broken the record for the highest points awarded in the subjects Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts."</p><p>Many gasped, while Houlton gaped: this was a never-seen-before occasion!</p><p>One of the reporters raised her hand, and Harry nodded at her. The woman cleared her throat, and a pen in one hand, a piece of parchment in the other, asked her question.</p><p>"Wasn't the previous holder of the record the current Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore?"</p><p>Harry felt disgust crawling within his insides at the thought of being compared to the old goat, but smiled as if it was a compliment. The public didn't need to know that he didn't support Dumbledore, as the man's evil deeds hadn't come to light just yet.</p><p>"That is correct, yes."</p><p>It only took a few seconds for an uproar to start in the crowd, and a few minutes later, it was made certain that it wouldn't end soon.</p><p>So, Harry turned to his family and smiled apologetically.</p><p>"Shall we escape?" Lily chuckled at his wording and ruffled his hair with an amused smile, while James could only smirk due to the mischief his son was making, just like he had at the boy's age.</p><p>"That would be appropriate, yes." answered the couple, and grabbed a hold of each of their children, readying themselves to Disapparate away.</p><p>A few seconds later, the Potter family had disappeared, but nobody was in any position to notice it.</p><p>Well, perhaps that had something to do with the numerous <em>Confundus</em> Harry had cast, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, right?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Twilfitt and Tattings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The family arrived at Twilfitt and Tattings, at last, having escaped from the reporters successfully. Harry let out a breath of relief, then turned to his mother with a small tired smile.</p><p>"I'm never going out without <em>Notice-Me-Not</em> charms again," he commented, and the redhead let out an amused snort.</p><p>"I might do that as well," she replied, and although her voice was clearly playful, her eyes had a thoughtful but tired glint in them, signifying that she was actually contemplating the action.</p><p>Being famous was quite bothersome, Harry realised once again. He had been extremely well-known in his previous life, after all, and although in his current one he had managed to stick to the shadows, he still shivered whenever he remembered the times he walked in Diagon Alley after Voldemort's defeat.</p><p>Unless he had put on multiple appearance-altering charms on top of disillusionment charms, he would always be recognised one way or the other and be forced to hide after being hoarded for autographs and interviews, when he would <em>Disapparate</em> away into a nearby alley and hide himself so thoroughly, only Magic Sensors could ever find him, and those people were so rare most didn't even know they existed.</p><p>With the feeling of a palm on top of his head, he snapped out of his memories, lifting his head slightly and seeing Lily smiling at him proudly.</p><p>"You handled the reporters well," the woman praised him, giving his hair a slight ruffle of affection before lowering her hand, and looking away towards the other two's location, presumably towards her husband from the height her gaze was directed towards.</p><p>Harry turned around and his gaze met the other two who shared his blood, seeing just as tired as he was feeling at the moment. Even Rose, who loved her fame, hated being pestered by reporters non-stop. She was currently dusting herself off and checking her clothes for any damage or dirt, hair slightly puffed up from static electricity, and an annoyed expression on her face.</p><p>He didn't approach her, instead choosing to divert her gaze to his father, who looked surprisingly fine, not counting the slight discomfort on his facial features. Then, Harry remembered that James was a Pureblood from a wealthy family alongside the Head Auror of the Auror Department, meaning he was used to media attention, and the slight surprise he had felt wilted away as if it had never been there, and he walked over to his three family members, Lily having gone over to their location while he had been analysing them.</p><p>As he got closer, Rose noticed him from the corner of her eye and her face stiffened ever so slightly, but she didn't give off any other reaction otherwise, instead choosing to ignore him and stare into another direction as if he weren't there.</p><p>Harry didn't mind, in fact, he preferred her choice of action, and mirrored her action, turning his gaze to his parents who were talking quietly about their carelessness and countermeasures.</p><p>That was when he felt another presence approaching, and his body suddenly became much more active, his six senses tingling (because he was one of the rare Magic Sensors he knew about), but outwardly, he had no reaction, as if he had no idea of the person to his left located in the shadows.</p><p>The person -a male, he noted, as the smell of cologne hit his nose- came out of the shadows and into vision, causing James to tense slightly, while Lily's eyes darted to the movement immediately, and Rose snapped towards him in reflex, the man's now visible smile widening at the action.</p><p>"Welcome to Twilfitt and Tattings, Lord Potter, Lady Potter, Heir Potter and Miss Potter. How might I serve you today?"</p><p>Rose narrowed her eyes slightly at her different title, looking slightly agitated, but coveted it up soon and placed her usual haughty mask in place. Harry admired her ease at covering her emotions, knowing that she must have practised it a lot. He himself certainly had, as mimicking his expressions when he didn't feel the emotions for them was quite hard to perfect, even more so make look natural.</p><p>Lily was the one to answer, her face morphing into a polite and gentle smile.</p><p>"Good day, Mr Twilfitt. We came today to buy both formal and informal robes for Harry and Rose, as they seem to have outgrown their previous ones," she said in a pleasant tone, making the man nod his head with a small laugh.</p><p>"With their age, that's quite normal," he commented merrily, before clapping his hands slightly, then gesturing towards a door. " Do come to the fitting room."</p><p>The twins nodded, and walked into the room after the man, the door closing after their parents went in as well.</p><p>For the next few hours, they were fitted for clothes, and Lily chose any and every robe she found fitting for them, wasting money in Harry's opinion, though he did not assert his thoughts orally. His thinning patience was noticed by his father, but the man knew when not to interrupt his wife, so the boy had to differ through hours of choosing robes.</p><p>Just as they were about to finish, the bell chimed in the entrance, and Twilfitt excused himself, exciting the room to greet the newcomers.</p><p>Harry, finding that moment to slip away, exited after him sneakily, making sure nobody noticed his absence. He was thoroughly bored and fed up, and he didn't have enough patience to deal with his mother's obsession with colours right now.</p><p>Hearing two people conversing, he turned around, and was surprised to see a blond family of three standing there, chatting with the tailor/store owner.</p><p>It seemed he wasn't the only one who noticed the presence of the other, as Draco Malfoy's eyes lit up slightly in recognition after spotting him.</p><p>Seeing that he was discovered, he offered the boy a polite smile and a wave, which was met with the other's face blooming with a smile before the waved him over.</p><p>Harry compiled, walking over to the family who had just taken note of him calmly and gracefully, not in the slightest bit uncomfortable about bumping into his family's enemies. Politics didn't matter to him at his current age, so he didn't care much about being seen with a political enemy, especially since the only one who would even blurt out the fact to others was Twilfitt, a man famous not only for his connections but also his secret-keeping.</p><p>When he was within talking distance, he politely greeted his schoolmate.</p><p>"Hello, Malfoy." They weren't close enough to be on a first-name basis, but they had converted a few times so they were on decent terms, especially with his distrust for Dumbledore the Slytherins knew about.</p><p>The boy nodded his head, his usual arrogant attitude there but repressed, probably because the boy felt it unnecessary.</p><p>"Potter." He acknowledged. "What a coincidence, meeting you here."</p><p>Harry chuckled lightly at the comment.</p><p>"I seem to have outgrown my robes, so I came for a fitting." He explained simply, the other boy cracking a smile at his words.</p><p>"The same as me, then." He then turned to his parents, who were observing his acquaintance curiously, and cleared his throat. "I should introduce you: mother, father; this is Harry Potter, the Heir Potter. Potter, these are my parents."</p><p>The three acknowledged each other with slight nods and bows, before starting polite small talk, like asking about their summers and schoolwork.</p><p>Around ten minutes later, the Potters exited the room, evidently having noticed his absence, and spotted him near the Malfoys, chatting. Both James and Rose looked horrified, while Lily looked over with slight worry.</p><p>Harry calmly called them over, and after a swift and unnecessary introduction to clear the tension, the family of four left the store, done with their shopping. As they exited, Harry waved goodbye towards the platinum blond boy with an apologetic smile on his face, earning himself a half-smile from the boy.</p><p>Well, it seemed the torture of choosing clothing hadn't been for nothing. Meeting the Malfoy's had certainly been a plus, if he wanted to broaden his social circle.</p><p>That night, after a light scolding for associated with a family from the Dark Lord's faction, Harry went to sleep early, ready to meet the arms of sleep and be taken away into sweet dreams. He wanted to forget his extreme exhaustion immediately, and as he drifted off as soon as his body hit the bed, it seemed there was no need to yearn for it too much.</p><p>He saw his memories that night, going over a time of peace. Before shit had hit the fan, when Voldemort was gone and he simply lived, not to survive, but to live.</p><p>When he woke up, he didn't remember anything, but his shoulders certainly felt lighter than before.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Omake (Harry's Past Life)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Another slash of a knife, another cut in the soft flesh of a man, another spurt of blood, dying the pavement below crimson as the dying body fell, eyes unfocused and breathing erratic. The sharp smell of iron enveloped the air, and the man took a step backwards, taking out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his sullied knife clean.</p><p>It was only a second later that something unintelligible was muttered, and power surged, the handkerchief suddenly becoming completely white again, no trace of blood to be found.</p><p>The man placed his knife back in its holster after the shocking display of Wandless Magic, a feat that would render many immobile in awe. He did not seem to care much about his stunt, though, as he stared at the corpse beneath his feet with an emotionless face, as if wondering what he should do with it.</p><p>His thoughts seemed to be over, as he slipped his wand into his hand, and aimed it to the lifeless bag of flesh and bones with a quick adjustment of his arm, his quick movements indicating he had done this many times before.</p><p>His lips parted slightly, and a whisper of an incantation escaped them, a sound so light it was carried away with the winter wind without even reaching the man's own ears, dissolving less than a millisecond after its emergence.</p><p>"<em>Incendio</em>."</p><p>A reddish light was emitted from the tip of the wand, meeting the corpse's jacket and setting it aflame as a result. It started as a small fire, only enough to light a cigar, and yet a minute later, it had covered the jacket fully, crackling majestically.</p><p>The man watched as the corpse was burned away slowly, the stench of cooked flesh dismissed by his nose, eyes glued tightly on the source of light and heat in front of him, warming his body. His eyes glowed a brilliant green, with its centre mirroring the fire, truly a beautiful combination of colours.</p><p>An exhale left his body, chilling immediately and turning visible, and accompanied by the melodic crackling of the fire, the man who was stabbing someone minutes ago looked almost peaceful.</p><p>The timeless moment was lost when the sound of a broken branch came from nearby, and the man's head snapped towards it, eyes narrowing and body tensing.</p><p>His wand hand clenched the stick tightly, and he disappeared in a warp of space, leaving nothing but ashes behind.</p><p>A man appeared from the shadows, footsteps light, and a hat covering most of his face in a shadow. He had a cigarette in his mouth, and his clothes looked years old.</p><p>He started at the still-hot ashes in front of him, defensively silent, then took a puff of his cigarette, exhaling smoke with a sigh.</p><p>"So, he has done it again, that boy." His tone wasn't happy nor said, but a slight exasperation mixed in could be heard if one listened closely enough.</p><p>The man stood there for a minute or so, before tilting his head upwards, his eyes trailing from constellation to constellation painted on the black sky above.</p><p>"What a burden he has on his shoulders," he said out loud, and as nobody was around, it seemed he was talking to himself. He shook his head in thought. "What mistakes we have made, for such a young boy to turn to this."</p><p>He stayed like that for some time, before closing his eyes. With a final tired sigh, he turned around and walked away, a slight sway to his steps.</p><p>Left behind was a piece of parchment that had fallen from his pocket, words scribbled with ink on top of the old and ripped paper.</p><p>
  <em>'Take care of him for me.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Signed , Sirius Black'</em>
</p><p>The man hadn't even noticed the absence of the parchment when it fell on the ashes and curled upon itself, slowly charring and blackening.</p><p>He hadn't been able to. Not before, not now, especially since the boy didn't trust anyone anymore.</p><p>Harry Potter was a shell of his former self now, and the man could not do anything to stop it.</p><p>The night continued silently as the wind swept up the ashes and carried them away gently, removing the final pieces of evidence of the recent manslaughter except for the blood.</p><p>The blood would stay there until the rain started and washed it away, wiping the sullied pavement clean of its history once again.</p><p>Yet one more man had been ended by the hands of a young green-eyed boy, but the world went on without knowing.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>OMAKE means EXTRA in Japanese. This chapter is an extra chapter irrelevant to the storyline. It is about Harry's job as an assassin in his past life.</strong>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Start of Second Year</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Summer ended soon enough. Harry didn't spend much time dwelling on what to do, instead choosing to spend most of his time in the Black Library, which he could visit thanks to creating a Portkey keyed into 12 Grimmauld Place's wards (He had played so many pranks on Sirius and Remus that they now thought they were being haunted. Also, he was right: they <em>were</em> fucking.) and another one keyed into Potter Manor's wards to come back, researching forbidden magic and creating even nastier ones.</p><p>To give an example, he found a curse that rotted people's organs within seconds, and with inspiration, modified the spell to have a time delay and changed its colour. Now, with the same colour as the <em>Expelliarmus</em> spell, he could kill people without suspicion easily.</p><p>So maybe his mind was a bit twisted, but so what? At least he wasn't using it to create a potion that turned someone invisible indefinitely, just to scare his sister by throwing invisible mice in her room. Oh wait, he <em>was</em>.</p><p>The screams had been incredibly delightful, and for the prank, Sirius was once again punished. As if <em>him</em>, the straight-laced first placer would ever waste his <em>precious</em> time to implicate others. It was <em>unimaginable</em>.</p><p>Snickering at the thought, he stared down at the books on his desk, placing them neatly in the library compartment of his trunk with a gentle flick of his wrist. Then, he unlocked the secret compartment he had added, requiring both his blood and magical signature to be opened, and took out a secret box from under his bed.</p><p>Just for fun, instead of placing the contents of the box inside his Mad-Eye Moody safety level trunk, he had put the box under the Fidelius charm using a young Muggle boy as its Secret Keeper, then erasing his memory. Foolproof unless the boy died, especially since he had no intention of letting others know of its contents.</p><p>Because, inside the box were several books considered so unforgivable, even touching them would condemn one to Azkaban for life. Harry had around a dozen of these.</p><p>The other content was a certain diary. Really, grabbing it had been extremely easy when he knew where it was placed before Ginny had had a chance to be leeched off by it. Harry thought that Voldemort should be grateful he would <em>personally</em> be doing the safekeeping. After all, who was more reliable than a time traveller who hated Dumbledore and supported the Dark faction?</p><p>"Harry, Rose! We're going in fifteen minutes!" came the shout of his mother from downstairs. It seemed he had spent too much time grinning like a madman over his precious treasures.</p><p>Harry flicked his wrist once more, and all of his necessary belongings were now packed safely in his trunk. Checking his wand holster and confirming his wand (and the illegal second wand he had bought from Knockturn Alley a week ago, but nobody needed to know that), he took it out and directed it at his trunk, lifting it wordlessly behind him. He walked out, his trunk floating behind him, and walked downstairs, his footsteps muted, but not perfectly, as it would be suspicious if a twelve-year-old child could completely conceal the sound of his body.</p><p>As soon as he arrived downstairs, he put his trunk down next to the manor's door, then quickly walked to the kitchen, where he knew his parents were.</p><p>Telling them he was done packing, he pointed his wand to one of the cupboards and smiled as a packet of ground coffee beans floated towards him. Directing them towards his trunk, and also grabbing one of the empty French press', he locked them in his trunk for safekeeping.</p><p>Lily and James chuckled at his antics, the latter being the reason why Harry was addicted to coffee now. They both knew that Harry liked studying until late at night, but still woke up early in the morning. He had informed them that he needed less sleep than an average twelve-year-old, but he still had sunken eye bags every time he woke up early in the morning. A few cosmetics charms easily concealed them, and Harry always napped for a few hours in the middle of the day, so they didn't reprimand him. He was still a healthy child, just with a different routine.</p><p>Rose was also ready a few minutes later, now able to wake up early thanks to the supplementary lessons she had taken five times a week during her whole summer holiday. Let's just say she probably didn't plan on scoring worse than the top 15 anytime soon. (Lily and James had told her that if she did, she would have supplementary lessons the next summer as well.)</p><p>Now that the family was ready, they Floo'ed to Platform 9 3/4, and were as always, met with a huge crowd of fans and reporters. Harry, having prepared at least ten escape plans for times like this, immediately cast several<em> Notice-Me-Not</em> charms on himself, pulled on his Invisibility Cloak (Before James had been un-<em>Confounded</em>, he had decided to give it to Rose but for some reason, he had forgotten about his Family Heirloom's existence.), then proceeded to cast anti-Sound, anti-Smell, anti-Vision and several other charms including a weaker version of the Fidelius charm on himself. In the end, even if dozens of Auror's cast <em>Homenum Revelio </em>or <em>Point Me</em> at the same time, they would be unable to find him.</p><p>Seating himself into his chosen compartment (the one that had the markings TMR under one of its seats, he had discovered by accident) once more, he locked it and once again cast so many spells unless the train itself spoke of his location, nobody would ever be able to discover it.</p><p>Taking a sip out of his thermos, which contained Lily's special hot chocolate, he sighed happily, removing the spells he had cast on himself. As he was Magically Sensitive, a side effect of having Mage Sight, the spells felt like ropes binding him. Finally completely free, he opened his book, read a few pages, then proceeded to fall asleep after having abstained from doing so for more than three days.</p><p>At least he had foreseen this happening and cast an alarm spell, else with his hideout a complete secret, who would have been able to find him if he woke up late?</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Luna Lovegood</h2></a>
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    <p>Harry had to say that the only reason the Welcoming Ceremony hadn't been boring was because he was filled with the excitement of welcoming one of his best friends from his past life. As soon as he had lain his eyes upon her, he was met with familiar hazy blue orbs staring right back at him. This didn't surprise him, for Luna Lovegood had the blood of Seers, and unlike that quack Trelawney, hers was as real as it could get.</p><p>After she was sorted, the blonde girl walked straight up to Harry and sat next to him as if it was the most natural thing to do, smiling her dreamy smile at him as she did so.</p><p>"Hello, Harry. It's nice to see you again after thirteen years."</p><p>Her words caused Terry to cough, choking on his spit in his surprise, and Anthony immediately patted him on the back to help. When his fit was over, he finally let out the words he was screaming in his head.</p><p>"What are you talking about? Harry's not even twelve yet?" His confusion was obvious, and Harry couldn't help but let an amused smile bloom on his lips. Ignoring his friend's bafflement, he replied to Luna, unfazed by her seemingly ridiculous question.</p><p>"Why yes, it has. May I ask if you have lived it or Seen it?" he answered politely, making heads turn to him as well, wondering what in the world he was talking about.</p><p>Luna smiled sweetly, and her eyes looked through his pair, never completely focused due to the mess she called her mindscape as she Saw things others could not.</p><p>"Seen, I'm afraid. I'm happy you managed to make it, though," she told the boy, making him nod in slight disappointment, though it was to be expected. His Luna had died a year before he had in his previous life, so meeting her again now was a pleasure and joy.</p><p>He gave a slightly melancholic smile, his head bowed slightly down.</p><p>"I expected that, but thank you very much."</p><p>Luna simply nodded in answer and turned back towards the table, the dishes having appeared moments ago during their short conversation. Terry nudged him from his side, face filled with disbelief and puzzlement, seeking answers from the only other person who understood the conversation.</p><p>"What did she mean?" he whisper-yelled into Harry's ear, a disturbed look on his face.</p><p>Harry replied with a mysterious smile.</p><p>"I wonder."</p><p>Knowing that he wouldn't tell more, the boy pouted but leaned away, instead, starting a conversation about his summer break, others nearby joining him in comparing theirs. Harry was also asked, and he replied by telling them he spent it studying, causing many to groan in disgust. They had expected it, though, as the boy had a great passion for learning.</p><p>In the end, the food and drink disappeared, and the stood up to make their ways to their individual common rooms. On the way, Harry greeted many portraits, having befriended them the previous year by researching them and asking them questions about their lives, things they enjoyed talking about.</p><p>This was helpful as they helped him with intelligence when needed. One of Hogwarts' strongest networks was its 'portrait intelligence network', and the Headmasters of all times had used this network for their benefit. And while they were first and foremost loyal to Hogwarts and therefore the Headmaster, because Dumbledore had been mistreating the magical castle, the portraits indulged him in his needs more than necessary, for he radiated the energy of the Hogwarts Founders, conversed with them a way no one else had for hundreds of years, and treated them kindly.</p><p>The magic of Hogwarts followed him wherever he went, embracing him like a warm blanket, and this was why the portraits knew he was the Prince of Hogwarts, the real owner of this magical castle. He shared traits with all four founders, his Slytherin side a bit more dominant in a way that satisfied them, knowing he wasn't a naïve boy who didn't understand the real face of the world. </p><p>He gave a sense of comfort, with that small smirk resting on the edge of his lips, not one of arrogance but of rightful confidence. He gave a sense of mystery, one that made him seem like he knew things he should not, yet he never acted upon this knowledge. He gave a sense of power, a power greater than they had ever witnessed, yet he hid this power, acting as if he was a regular child new to magic.</p><p>He was the perfect Heir to this magical treasure of a place, and the portraits felt comforted with this knowledge. Hogwarts had been declining in both magic and security for centuries now, but with the arrival of this boy, the tides would quickly change. This boy would surely restore Hogwarts' glory to its peak again.</p><p>The Ravenclaws students arrived at the door opening to the common room, a knock on the doorknob from the Prefect urging it to let out a riddle, one that was easily answered. With the door open, the students walked inside, the messy sound of their footsteps accompanied by the awed gasps leaving the mouths of the first-year students.</p><p>The fifth-year male Prefect stepped forward, informing the first-years of the rules of the House and their designated bedtimes, only two hours away for the youngest ones. Then came Professor Flitwick's speech, the polite half-goblin telling the first-years they could talk to him anytime. They were urged to unpack afterwards, all students heading to their designated rooms, Harry and his year mates now a flight of stairs higher.</p><p>Once inside, they found the luggage -except for Harry's, for he did not trust Dumbledore not to attempt to go through it (not that he could with all the spells on it)- and started to take out their belongings and placing them in their cupboards.</p><p>Instead of unpacking, because leaving his belongings inside his trunk was much safer and tidier than taking them out, Harry let himself fall on his bed and bounce slightly, exhaling in exhaustion.</p><p>Whenever it was, the train ride was quite mentally taxing for him. He much preferred sleeping on his bed mind you, and so he proceeded to do so as quickly as possible.</p><p>Changing into his sleepwear with a flick of his wand, he bid his friends, who were planning to stay up all night to chat, goodnight, and quickly closed his curtains, applying several privacy spells as soon as he was alone. He then put up an alarm spell, placed his wand back into its holster, and the holster to where it was glued magically on the surface of the curtain, then let himself drop.</p><p>He was asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Jewel Eyes ~On Crack~ (☆▽☆)</h2></a>
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    <p><strong>Rose</strong>: *spouts pro-Light propaganda*</p><p><strong>Harry</strong>: if you continue to talk shit's gonna come sparkling out your ass-</p><p>{}</p><p><strong>Harry</strong>: Slytherin isn't a bad house</p><p><strong>Some extra</strong>: *le gasp* how could you! You're the Girl-Who-Lived's brother!</p><p><strong>Harry</strong>: that never stopped me from plotting her murder-</p><p>{}</p><p><strong>Rose</strong>: I hate you!</p><p><strong>Harry</strong>: who said I gave a fuck, you two-faced moronic worthless annoying piece of shit?</p><p><strong>Rose</strong>: *le gasp*</p><p>{}</p><p><strong>Lily &amp; James</strong>: *praises Harry*</p><p><strong>Rose</strong>: *turns into a feral gremlin*</p><p><strong>Harry</strong>: I thought Uncle Moony was supposed to be the werewolf-</p><p>{}</p><p><strong>Dumbledore</strong>: *opens his mouth*</p><p><strong>Harry</strong>: *opens umbrella* oof, shit's boutta rain down here</p><p>{}</p><p><strong>Harry, seeing Quirrelmort for the first time in almost thirty years</strong>: *wheezes* just think about hexing the back of his head that would be so amusing-</p><p><strong>Terry</strong>: wtf are you talking about</p><p><strong>Harry</strong>: *suddenly acting mature, a mysterious smile on his face* I wonder</p><p>{}</p><p><strong>Harry, after making eye contact with Rose</strong>: damn, I saw the filthiest of shit a second ago-</p><p>{}</p><p><strong>Harry, three months old</strong>: this diaper is making my ass itch-</p><p>{}</p><p>
  <strong>Hope this provides your daily dose of serotonin, wherever you are!</strong>
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  <strong>⁽⁽◝( •௰• )◜⁾⁾ ₍₍◞( •௰• )◟₎₎</strong>
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<a name="section0032"><h2>32. A Prankfuk Start To School</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first week of school was just like last year's, peaceful, and Harry appreciated the way it was while knowing that sadly, it wouldn't last long. As soon as the Quidditch Tournament started, the House Rivalry would come back full force, and conflict would start happening between students of different Houses, especially Slytherin and Gryffindor.</p><p>Harry had lost count of the number of times he had seen students hexing each other in the hallways or arguing over irrelevant topics just because they were in different Houses, and has decided to just ignore any minor incidents that didn't affect him or his studies.</p><p>This year would hopefully be less incidental than the last, as taking away the Horcrux Diary should help prevent the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, the largest-scaled incident from his initial second-year.</p><p>Right now, his biggest problem was that he had to meet that fraudulent buffoon, Lockhart, and attend his lessons again. He really was not looking forward to his bogus adventures of defeating vampires with a single punch because it had neglected to brush its teeth, again.</p><p>Even so, coming back also had its plus side: he was able to meet Flitwick and have pleasant discussions about Magical Theory again, and exploring Hogwarts had always been one of his favourite pass times. The fact that the magic of the castle always called for him when he was away was also a factor of his happiness: now that he was connected again, he felt much more complete.</p><p>And so, the castle was as peaceful as it could be, with the occasional pranking incident performed by the infamous Weasley Twins, and taking inspiration from the duo, Harry decided that it was time the Phantom Prankster of Hogwarts showed his brilliant creativity.</p><p>The second he made this decision, he started plotting his future prank. It took him three days of careful planning to perfect his scheme, and another four to encounter the perfect time to act it out.</p><p>It was a usual day at Hogwarts, with the schedule for the day half-finished, when chaos suddenly erupted. The Gryffindor House students suddenly found their genders switched around, and the Slytherin House started coughing every few minutes a red and gold dust, leaving the taste of gunpowder behind them. </p><p>The Hufflepuff House password which hadn't changed since its founding became incorrect, and the poor badgers droned in vinegar, the pungent smell attaching itself to their robes for days no matter how many times they cleaned them. </p><p>Finally, the Ravenclaw exclusive library suddenly disappeared, leaving behind mass chaos within the Common Room, many young students crying in fear of the thousand-year-old tomes being lost forever.</p><p>This was only the beginning, though, as only a few hours later at dinner time, the food and drinks were enchanted to make the consumers create the sound of their exclusive House animals, and eventually, the Gryffindor roars became so loud that the staff had to cast silencing spells on them. The Slytherins looked pleased by the hissing, though, as Parseltongue was the tongue of their founder, and they kept on hissing excitedly at each other with wide smiles.</p><p>Finally, all of the Common Rooms somehow became pure white, enough to blind whoever took even the slightest of glances, and the Professors' individual bedrooms were dyed pure black on top of being charmed so no light could enter the room, magical or no magical, which caused poor Pomona Sprout to trip and mysteriously become completely dyed black just like her room, robes and all.</p><p>The next day, Dumbledore came to breakfast fuming with all the hair on his head having become noodles, and his half-moon spectacles charmed to mix people when he looked through them. Because of this, he mistook McGonagall for Snape and caused wide laughter amongst the Hall. The dungeon bat was teased as a woman between the students for many weeks.</p><p>As for Flitwick? Well, he suddenly took the form of a full human but was depressed to find that he was still shorter than average as a human. </p><p>All in all, it was a fun time for Harry, and he was especially pleased when he heard that Ron had started crying about having breasts during potions class, and Snape had gotten so irritated he hexed him into a portable toilet. Also, Rose had gone as red as her hair at the sexists comments her sycophant had made and had afterwards hexed him to have an unstoppable period right in front of the Slytherins. She truly could be vicious when she wanted to be.</p><p>Harry would never admit that it was he who had lengthened the hex to last a week after witnessing his sister's action, but he was sure Luna knew from the fact that she had sent him an amused look at dinner that night.</p><p>Oh well, who cared about the idiotic Weasley anyway?</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Sneaking Out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A day before the first Quidditch match of the year, with the school buzzing with energy, Cato delivered a vermillion coloured envelope to Harry, and his eyes widened with delight when he read the name of the sender. He had been waiting for this one letter for quite some time, and it had arrived just a day away from being too late. Thankfully so, as he would have had to adjust his plans otherwise, not an arduous process, but still an unwanted one if not necessary.</p><p>Instead of opening it right then and there, Harry stuffed the letter inside the pocket of his robes, bewitched to become a dimensional pouch unbeknownst to others. He could feel his friends' questioning eyes on him, except for Luna, who only smiled knowingly, but he gave them a glance that conveyed it was private, and there it was left.</p><p>Harry was known for his obscurity by now and the students of Ravenclaw knew better than to ask, especially after a particular incident with an older Ravenclaw taking offence in the ravenette's held back knowledge, and decided to threaten him into confessing after the boy had refused to comply to his request (read: order) to tell him where he had found the several-hundred-years-old tome in his hands about Ancient Runes. He had tried to grab the book forcefully from the then first-year student, and found himself on the ground, fingers twisted in odd angles at the knuckles, and a serenely smiling Harry who hadn't moved an inch from where he had been sitting. </p><p>The boy's smile had held an animalistic glint to it, and his eyes had shone a spine-chilling avada kedavra green when they had met with his own, petrifying him in his position on the ground, and a minute later he had been seen running away sobbing, a significantly large area of wetness on the groin part of his robes, smelling distinctly of urine.</p><p>Nobody had dared to utter a word against the boy's reticent behaviour ever again.</p><p>Breakfast concluded a short time later. Harry informed his friends that he would be joining them later in the classroom of their current lesson before heading straight towards the girls' lavatory on the second floor, its emptiness attributable to a particular Myrtle Warren haunting the place. A perfect place to open his mail without being disturbed.</p><p>On his way, he passed the second year Gryffindors heading the opposite way -their first class was shared- and Rose, who noticed him as she conversed with her best friend, frowned when their eyes met but didn't comment, choosing to avert her eyes and focus more on the redhead blabbering excitedly to her side instead.</p><p>This was another difference from last year when Rose would have scoffed and sometimes insulted him if they had even come as close as twenty meters within each other's -unwanted- presence, and certainly an improvement if Harry could say so.</p><p>In fact, after the 'talk' they had had the day of James' 'fixing', the redhead had become much more tolerable, even going as far as conversing civilly with Harry sometimes, and while they were still pretty rare, the boy was happy that he could finally start getting along with his sister.</p><p>He had always wanted a family, and after his first life had ended with him unsuccessful in achieving that wish, he had acquired his greatest dream in his second. That had fallen apart by Lily and James' brainwashing, and they had spoiled Rose, turning her into a selfish, unlovable brat that disgusted Harry. He had felt disappointed that he was mistreated even in his second life, unable to achieve the sole thing he wanted the most.</p><p>Learning about the compulsions placed on both his parents -Lily's had been broken the day Harry had gotten his inheritance, after he had revealed his true feelings about being ignored, and before it could seep more deeply into her body, corrupting her thoroughly like it had James- had made him feel rage for the first time in years, a wave of cold, blood-chilling anger that had shaken his control on his magic and erupted into strong bursts of air pressure, shattering hundreds of trees in the forest behind their mansion and caused several earthquake-like shakes.</p><p>Before he had fixed it, if one had looked from above, they would've seen a puzzling gap in the middle of the large forest, looking like a tornado had torn a hole through the cumulated green. A truly terrifying scene if such a person knew what had created it was only a minimal percentage of a young eleven-year-old child's magic.</p><p>But that was already in the past, and currently, Harry had other matters to ponder upon.</p><p>For example, the vermillion envelope he was opening with an eager glint in his eyes, and a satisfied smirk. </p><p>An envelope sent by an immensely important person in the Wizarding World.</p><p>An envelope sent by the revered Nicolas Flamel, the owner of the famed Philosopher's Stone he kept inside the shrunk mokeskin pouch hidden within the emerald earring on his left ear, covered from sight by his long locks that reached his shoulders, resting in a loose ponytail on the back of his neck.</p><p>Written on the identically coloured letter inside were words of gratitude, and the man had expressed his interest in meeting the boy as soon as possible. Harry swiftly penned that he would be available the afternoon of the next day, specifically including a time which coincided with the Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw Quidditch game, a perfect opportunity for him to sneak out unnoticed.</p><p>With his job done, the boy swiftly started his journey to the Charms classroom, Cato landing on his shoulder midway and being handed the letter, flying away with the generous promise of treats the time of his return.</p><p>He arrived perfectly punctually to the classroom, receiving a small smile from Flitwick before the man urged him to take a seat and started his lecture on traditional wizarding duels.</p><p>{}</p><p>Harry arrived at the one-eyed witch statue by the stairs near the DADA classroom as soon as he heard the first round of cheers from the Quidditch stadium, signalling the near start of the game. It was the perfect time to wander unnoticed, and he would be using it to escape from the castle for his meeting with the famous alchemist as promised.</p><p>"Dissendium," he spoke, voice neither loud nor quiet, and the statue moved within seconds, opening an admittedly dusty tunnel which Harry knew lead to Hogsmeade, or more specifically, the cellar of Honeydukes. He had used it quite a few times in his previous life, especially in his third year when Professor McGonagall had refused to sign his permission slip for Hogsmeade -she had been lying by the way, as a muggle-raised student, Harry's primary guardian in the magical world was considered his Head of House- and he was certainly gratified that the twins had taught him the path. It was extremely useful as it was unaffected by Hogwarts' wards, and Dumbledore -or any headmaster really- wasn't alerted of his escape.</p><p>Around twenty minutes of walking later, he arrived at a trapdoor, which he swiftly raised, and exited the tunnel, dropping back the door as softly as possible in order not to alert anyone of his presence.</p><p>Taking out his wand and casting a few charms to keep himself hidden, he exited the shop swiftly and headed towards the Three Broomsticks, feeling a wave of nostalgia hit him as his eyes wandered through the buildings. It was just as he remembered: warm and peaceful. </p><p>When he arrived, using his Metamorphmagus abilities, tweaked his features a bit. His hair shortened to mid-length and lightened to a sandy brown colour, thick bangs covering his forehead. His green eyes turned turquoise, and his facial structure became a bit more square-like. He also grew slightly in height and charmed his robes to an appropriate formality for a meeting.</p><p>Once he was done, he took off his privacy charms, he pushed open the door to the inn and heard the magical bells ring to signal his presence, a few eyes turning to him, no doubt surprised that a young child was there. A few mild compulsions muttered under his breath, and that problem was solved.</p><p>Madam Rosmerta, the owner of the inn, approached him shortly after his entrance, a kind smile on her face.</p><p>"What brings you here, dear?"</p><p>He was too young to drink Butterbear after all, and it wasn't even Hogsmeade weekend anyway. It was obvious he was there for something else.</p><p>Harry smiled brightly at the woman, portraying every inch of a young child that fit his bodily age.</p><p>"Umm, I booked a private meeting room yesterday... It was for 2 p.m. if I remember correctly."</p><p>Of course he did. He had eidetic memory thanks to his excellent occlumency skills after all.</p><p>The woman's eyes widened slightly in surprise and recognition before she nodded and pointed to the stairs at the side.</p><p>"Upstairs, first room to the right. Your guests are already waiting for you."</p><p>Harry thanked the woman with another beaming smile, softening the woman's features with its deadly attack, and rushed upstairs, acting like he was panicking that he was late. He wasn't. There were still ten minutes until the designated time for the meeting. The Flamel had arrived early, that was it.</p><p>He heard a few chuckles after his nervous form, but he ignored them, dropping the act as soon as he was out of sight. He straightened himself, then knocked on the door, opening it a second afterwards.</p><p>There he was, Nicolas Flamel, looking not a day over fifty, the only thing giving away his actual age being his wisdom-filled eyes. He had a majestic air to himself, and Harry felt his spine straighten with the pressure of his gaze landing upon him.</p><p>What was unexpected was the woman to his side, who Harry immediately recognized as his wife, Perenelle, despite having never met her before. She had just as powerful an aura as her husband did, and in fact, even more so. Interesting.</p><p>Both immortals looked surprised by his age, but gained their composure within seconds, gaining the admiration of Harry. They truly were people to be respected, if they had so much control over themselves.</p><p>He smiled pleasantly before letting his transformation drop, drawing a sharp intake of breath from both, and narrowing eyes. </p><p>Metamorphmagi were rare, and their stealth abilities were considered the best of the best.</p><p>Harry took a step forward, his arm out, his eyes curling into a foxy shape, revealing nothing of his true thoughts but amusement.</p><p>"Greetings, Mr and Mrs Flamel, my name is Harry Potter. But you may better know me as the holder of your immortality stone." At their straightened backs, his smile widened slightly, the corner of his lips curling up just a bit more. "Why don't we have a pleasant chat?"</p>
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